An Improved Method for Seismic Site Characterization with Emphasis on Liquefaction Phenomenon

Document Type : Regular Paper

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Geophysics, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

2 Young Researcher Club, Department of Geophysics, Hamedan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Hamedan, Iran

3 Department of Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Iran is an active seismic region. Earthquake damage is commonly controlled by three interacting factors including source and path characteristics, local geological and geotechnical conditions and type of the structures. Obviously, all of this would require analysis and presentation of a large amount of geological, seismological and geotechnical data. In this paper, nonlinear geotechnical seismic hazard analysis considering the local site effects was executed and the soil liquefaction potential analysis has been evaluated for the Nemat Abad earth dam in Hamedan province of Iran because of its important socioeconomic interest and its location. Liquefaction susceptibility mapping is carried out using a decisional flowchart for evaluation of earthquake-induced effects, based on available data such as geological, groundwater depth, seismotectonic, sedimentary features, insitu, field and laboratory geotechnical parameters. A series model tests were conducted and then based on the achieved data the idealized soil profile constructed. A C# GUI computer code “NLGSS_Shahri” was developed and then employed to evaluate the variation of shear modulus and damping ratio with shear strain amplitude to assess their effects on site response. To verify and validate the methodology, the obtained results of the generated code were compared to several known applicable procedures. It showed that computed output of this code has good and suitable agreement with other known applicable procedures.

Keywords

References

[1] Abbaszadeh Shahri, A., Esfandiyari, B., Hamzeloo, H. (2011). “Evaluation of a nonlinear seismic geotechnical site response analysis method subjected to earthquake vibrations (case study: Kerman province, Iran)”. Arab J Geosci (Springer), Vol. 4, No. 7-8, pp.1103-1116.
[2] Abbaszadeh Shahri, A., Behzadafshar, K., Rajablou, R. (2011). “A case study for testing the capability of an intermediate generated geotechnical based computer software on seismic site response analysis”. International Journal of the Physical Sciences, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 280-293.
[3] Baziar, M.H., Dobry, R. (1995). “Residual strength and large deformation potential of loose silty sands”, J. Geotech. Eng., Vol. 121, No. 12, pp. 896-906.
[4] Blake, T.F. (1996). “Formula (4), summary report of proceedings of the nceer workshop on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils”. Youd, T.L. and Idriss, I.M., eds., Technical Report NCEER 97-0022.
[5] Byrne, M.P., SeidKarbasi, M. (2003). “Seismic stability of impoundments”. Proceedings of the 17th Annual Symposium, Vancouver Geotechnical Society.
[6] Fear, C.E., Robertson, P.K. (1995). “Estimating the undrained strength of sand: A theoretical framework”. Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 32, No. 4, pp. 859-870.
[7] Golesorkhi, R. (1989). “Factors influencing the computational determination of earthquake-induced shear stresses in sandy soils”. Ph.D. dissertation, University of California at Berkeley.
[8] Hardin, B.O., Drnevich, V.P. (1972). “Shear modulus and damping in soil: design equations and curves”. J Soil Mech Found Eng Div, ASCE, Vol. 98, No. 7, pp. 667- 692.
[9] http://www.usgs.gov.
[10] Idriss, I.M. (1997). “Evaluation of liquefaction potential and consequences: Historical perspective and updated procedures”. Presentation notes, 3rd short course on evaluation and mitigation of earthquake induced liquefaction hazards, March 13-14, San Francisco.
[11] Imai, T., Tonachi, K. (1982). “Correlation of N-value with S-wave velocity and shear modulus”. Proceedings of the Second European Symposium on Penetration Testing, Amsterdam, pp. 57-72.
[12] Ishibashi, I., Zhang, X. (1993). “Unified dynamic shear moduli and damping ratios of sand and clay”. Soils and Foundations, Vol. 33, No. 1, pp. 182-191.
[13] Ishihara, K. (1993). “Liquefaction and flow failure during earthquakes”. Geotechnique, Vol. 43, No. 3, pp. 351-415.
[14] Liao, S.S.C., Whitman, R.V. (1986). “Catalogue of liquefaction and non-liquefaction occurrences during earthquakes”. Res. Rep., Dept. of Civ. Engng., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.
[15] Liao, S.S.C., Veneziano, D., Whitman, R.V. (1988). “Regression models for evaluating liquefaction probability”. J Geotech Engng., Vol. 114, No. 4, pp. 389-411.
[16] Ohta, Y., Goto, N. (1976). “Estimation of S-wave velocity in terms of characteristic indices of soil”. Butsuri-Tanko, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 34-41.
[17] Olson, S.M., Stark, T.D. (2002). “Liquefied strength ratio from liquefaction flow failure case histories”. Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 39, pp. 629- 647.
 [18] Seed, H.B., Idriss, I.M. (1970). “Soil moduli and damping factors for dynamic response analyses”. Report EERC 70-10, Earthquake Engineering Research Center, University of California, Berkeley.
[19] Seed, H.B., Idriss, I.M. (1971). “Simplified procedure for evaluating soil liquefaction potential”. J Soil Mech Found Eng Div, ASCE, Vol. 97, No. SM9, pp.1249-1273.
[20]. Seed, H.B., Idriss, I.M. (1982). “Ground motions and soil liquefaction during earthquakes”. Earthquake Engineering Research Instite, Oakland, California, Monograph Series.
[21] Sladen, J.A., Hewitt, J.H. (1989). “Influence of placement method on the in situ density of hydraulic sand fills”. Can. Geotech. J., Vol. 26, pp. 453-466.
[22] Strak, T.D., Olsen, S.M. (1995). “Liquefaction resistance using CPT and field case histories”. J Geote Engg, Vol. 121, No. 12, pp. 856-869.
[23] Youd, T.D., Idriss, I.M., Andrus, R.D., Arango, I., Castro, G., Christian, T.J., Dorby, R., Finn, WDL., Harder, LF., Hynes, ME., Ishihara, K., Koester, CP., Laio, S.C., Marcuson, E.F., Martin, G.R., Mitchell, J.K., Moriwaki, Y., Power, M.S., Robertson, P.K., Seed, R.B., Stokoe, K.H. (2001). “Liquefaction resistance of soils: Summery report from the 1996 NCEER and 1998 NCEER/NSF Workshop on evaluation of liquefaction resistance of soils”. J Geotech and Geoenviro Engg, Vol. 127, pp. 817-833.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 22 August 2012
  • Revise Date: 17 December 2012
  • Accept Date: 02 January 2013

Share

How to cite

Statistics