Soil liquefaction

Some effects of liquefaction during the 1964 Niigata earthquake

Liquefaction allowed this sewer to float upward - 2004 Ch etsu earthquake

The effect of liquefaction in Christchurch, New Zealand, during the Mw 6.3 February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. Soil liquefaction describes a phenomenon whereby a saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress, usually earthquake shaking or other sudden change in stress condition, causing it to behave like a liquid.

In soil mechanics the term "liquefied" was first used by Hazen[1] in reference to the 1918 failure of the Calaveras Dam in California. He described the mechanism of flow liquefaction of the embankment dam as follows: If the pressure of the water in the pores is great enough to carry all the load, it will have the effect of holding the particles apart and of producing a condition that is practically equivalent to that of quicksand the initial movement of some part of the material might result in accumulating pressure, first on one point, and then on another, successively, as the early points of concentration were liquefied. The phenomenon is most often observed in saturated, loose (low density or uncompacted), sandy soils. This is because a loose sand has a tendency to compress when a load is applied; dense sands by contrast tend to expand in volume or 'dilate'. If the soil is saturated by water, as exists when the soil is below the ground water table or sea level, then water fills the gaps between soil grains ('pore spaces'). In response to the soil compressing, this water increases in pressure and attempts to flow out from the soil to zones of low pressure (usually upward towards the ground surface). However, if the loading is rapidly applied and large enough, or is repeated many times (e.g. earthquake shaking, storm wave loading) such that it does not flow out in time before the next cycle of load is applied, the water pressures may build to an extent where they exceed the contact stresses between the grains of soil that keep them in contact with each other. These contacts between grains are the means by which the weight from buildings and overlying soil layers are transferred from the ground surface to layers of soil or rock at greater depths. This loss of soil structure causes it to lose all of its strength (the ability to transfer shear stress) and it may be observed to flow like a liquid (hence 'liquefaction'). Although the effects of liquefaction have been long understood, it was more thoroughly brought to the attention of engineers after the 1964 Niigata earthquake and 1964 Alaska earthquake. It was also a major factor in the destruction in San Francisco's Marina District during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and in Kobe Port during the 1995 Great Hanshin earthquake. More recently liquefaction was largely responsible for extensive damage to residential properties in the eastern suburbs and satellite townships of Christchurch, New Zealand during the 2010 Darfield earthquake[2] and more extensively again following the Christchurch earthquakes that followed in early and mid 2011.[3] The building codes in many developed countries require engineers to consider the effects of soil liquefaction in the design of new buildings and infrastructure such as bridges, embankment dams and retaining structures.[4][5][6]
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[edit] Technical definitions

A state of 'soil liquefaction' occurs when the effective stress of a soil is reduced to essentially zero, which corresponds to a complete loss of shear strength. This may be initiated by either monotonic loading (e.g. single sudden occurrence of a change in stress - examples include an

increase in load on an embankment or sudden loss of toe support) or cyclic loading (e.g. repeated change in stress condition - examples include wave loading or earthquake shaking). In both cases a soil in a saturated loose state, and one which may generate significant pore water pressure on a change in load are the most likely to liquefy. This is because a loose soil has the tendency to compress when sheared, generating large excess porewater pressure as load is transferred from the soil skeleton to adjacent pore water during undrained loading. As pore water pressure rises a progressive loss of strength of the soil occurs as effective stress is reduced. It is more likely to occur in sandy or non-plastic silty soils, but may in rare cases occur in gravels and clays (see quick clay) A 'flow failure' may initiate if the strength of the soil is reduced below the stresses required to maintain equilibrium of a slope or footing of a building for instance. This can occur due to monotonic loading or cyclic loading, and can be sudden and catastrophic. A historical example is the Aberfan disaster. Casagrande[7] referred to this type of phenomena as 'flow liquefaction' although a state of zero effective stress is not required for this to occur. The term 'cyclic liquefaction' refers to the occurrence of a state of soil when large shear strains have accumulated in response to cyclic loading. A typical reference strain for the approximate occurrence of zero effective stress is 5% double amplitude shear strain. This is a soil test based definition, usually performed via cyclic triaxial, cyclic direct simple shear, or cyclic torsional shear type apparatus. These tests are performed to determine a soils resistance to liquefaction by observing the number of cycles of loading at a particular shear stress amplitude before it 'fails'. Failure here is defined by the aforementioned shear strain criteria. The term 'cyclic mobility' refers to the mechanism of progressive reduction of effective stress due to cyclic loading. This may occur in all soil types including dense soils. However on reaching a state of zero effective stress such soils immediate dilate and regain strength. Thus shear strains are significantly less than a true state of soil liquefaction whereby a loose soil exhibits flow type phenomena.

[edit] Liquefaction occurrence

Liquefaction is more likely to occur in loose to moderately saturated granular soils with poor drainage, such as siltysands or sands and gravels capped or containing seams of impermeable sediments.[8][9] During wave loading, usually cyclic undrained loading, e.g. seismic loading, loose sands tend to decrease in volume, which produces an increase in their porewater pressures and consequently a decrease in shear strength, i.e. reduction in effective stress. Deposits most susceptible to liquefaction are young (Holocene-age, deposited within the last 10,000 years) sands and silts of similar grain size (well-sorted), in beds at least metres thick, and saturated with water. Such deposits are often found along riverbeds, beaches, dunes, and areas where windblown silt (loess) and sand have accumulated. Some examples of soil liquefaction include quicksand, quick clay, turbidity currents, and earthquake induced liquefaction. Depending on the initial void ratio, the soil material can respond to loading either strainsoftening or strain-hardening. Strain-softened soils, e.g. loose sands, can be triggered to collapse,

either monotonically or cyclically, if the static shear stress is greater than the ultimate or steadystate shear strength of the soil. In this case flow liquefaction occurs, where the soil deforms at a low constant residual shear stress. If the soil strain-hardens, e.g. moderately dense to dense sand, flow liquefaction will generally not occur. However, cyclic softening can occur due to cyclic undrained loading, e.g. earthquake loading. Deformation during cyclic loading will depend on the density of the soil, the magnitude and duration of the cyclic loading, and amount of shear stress reversal. If stress reversal occurs, the effective shear stress could reach zero, then cyclic liquefaction can take place. If stress reversal does not occur, zero effective stress is not possible to occur, thencyclic mobility takes place.[10] The resistance of the cohesionless soil to liquefaction will depend on the density of the soil, confining stresses, soil structure (fabric, age and cementation), the magnitude and duration of the cyclic loading, and the extent to which shear stress reversal occurs.[11]

[edit] Earthquake liquefaction

Sand boils that erupted during the 2011 Canterbury earthquake. The pressures generated during large earthquakes with many cycles of shaking can cause the liquefied sand and excess water to force its way to the ground surface from several metres below the ground. This is often observed as "sand boils" also called "sand blows" or "sand volcanoes" (as they appear to form small volcanic craters) at the ground surface. The phenomenon may incorporate both flow of already liquefied sand from a layer below ground, and a quicksand effect whereby upward flow of water initiates liquefaction in overlying non-liquefied sandy deposits due to buoyancy.

A liquefaction susceptibility map - excerpt of USGS map for the San Francisco Bay Area. Many areas of concern in this region are also densely urbanized. The other common observation is land instability - cracking and movement of the ground down slope or towards unsupported margins of rivers, streams, or the coast. The failure of ground in this manner is called 'lateral spreading', and may occur on very shallow slopes of angles of only 1 or 2 degrees from the horizontal. More is discussed on this aspect under the section 'Effects'. One positive aspect of soil liquefaction is the tendency for the effects of earthquake shaking to be significantly damped (reduced) for the remainder of the earthquake. This is because liquids do not support a shear stress and so once the soil liquefies due to shaking, subsequent earthquake shaking (transferred through ground by shear waves) is not transferred to buildings at the ground surface. Studies of liquefaction features left by prehistoric earthquakes, called paleoliquefaction or paleoseismology, can reveal a great deal of information about earthquakes that occurred before records were kept or accurate measurements could be taken.[12] Soil liquefaction induced by earthquake shaking is also a major contributor to urban seismic risk.