Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Deformations Computational Assessment during Tohoku Earthquake

Abstract

Liquefaction-induced lateral spreading during Tohoku earthquake resulted in significant damage, and disruption of functionality for structures and life. The paper aims at reproducing this on-site evidence presenting the state of the art about the most credited qualitative approach and comparing these methods with numerical computation. In this regard, finite element (FE) simulations are increasingly providing a versatile environment in order to assess economical and effective damage. In the study, several systematic three-dimensional FE computations have been conducted to numerically evaluate the effects in terms of liquefaction-induced lateral deformations. The analysis is performed in correspondence with Urayasu City, where the registered liquefaction consequences on residential buildings were wide if compared with the ordinary seismic shake. This study can be used both for post-earthquake evaluations and for pre-earthquake vulnerability predictions.

Soil Structure Interaction Assessment With Advanced Numerical Simulations

“…In this regards, base and lateral boundaries were modelled to be impervious, as to represent a small section of a presumably infinite (or at least very large) soil domain by allowing the seismic energy to be removed from the site itself. For more details, see previous studies [22][23][24][25]. Connections between the structure and the soil are built up with Equaldof elements that imposes the displacements to be the same between the structure and the soil nodes [18,19].…”

Assessment of Stone Columns as a Mitigation Technique of Liquefaction-Induced Effects during Italian Earthquakes (May 2012)

“…They only refer to few descriptive parameters based on historic knowledge or taken from geological and geotechnical recognitions and on behaviour analysis results of laboratory cycling test under controlled condition. These empirical methods are used only in preliminary studies allowing general considerations on liquefaction effects and deformation in qualitative terms (for more details, see Forcellini et al [ 35 ]).…”

“…The adopted parameters (Tables 2 and 3 ) were calibrated through an identification analysis taking into account nonlinear liquefaction-induced behaviors as specified in OpenSees PL manual Lu et al [ 48 ]. More details on the calibration analysis are shown in Elgamal et al [ 32 ], Forcellini and Tarantino [ 49 ], and Forcellini et al [ 35 ].…”

“…Thus, the base and lateral boundaries were modeled to be impervious, as to represent a small section of a presumably infinite (or at least very large) soil domain by allowing the energy imparted by the seismic event to be removed from the site itself. For more details, see Law and Lam [ 54 ], Elgamal et al [ 32 ], Forcellini and Tarantino [ 49 ], and Forcellini et al [ 35 ]. The paper adopts a 308 elements mesh, assessed as the most representative compromise from a numerical time consuming calibration where several meshes (up to 3028 elements) were analysed and compared.…”