Strength-based and wave-based liquefaction characterization

Abstract

The purposes of this study are to analyze post liquefaction shear strength and to explore the potential use of wave-based techniques to monitor liquefaction and post liquefaction response. The first part presents a detailed analysis of triaxial test results to identify robust strength criteria. The second part documents experimental data on the characterization of liquefaction events with P-wave reflection imaging and S-wave trans-illumination techniques. The relevance of multiple coexisting temporal and spatial scales is highlighted. The following results are obtained: 1) the post liquefaction shear strength can be estimated within the framework of critical state soil mechanic; 2) the P-wave reflection images obtained before and after liquefaction represent the depression of the soil-water interface; 3) excess pore pressure migration from liquefied deep layers may cause zero-effective stress in dilative shallow layers. P-wave reflection is a valuable tool to monitor the evolution of subsurface structures and S-wave trans-illumination technique can be used to yield a comprehensive picture of the spatial evolution of liquefaction.