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Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357
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Technical Paper

Shaking table test on underwater slope failure induced by liquefaction

Xiaoqing Feng, Bin Ye, Jie He ⇑, Husheng Miao, Chuangji Lin
Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China

Received 13 June 2022; received in revised form 20 May 2023; accepted 16 July 2023
Available online 2 August 2023

Abstract

Sand liquefaction is a process in which the excess pore water pressure of saturated sand soils increases and the effective stress of sat-
urated sand decreases under the action of vibration, resulting in the transition of sand soils from the solid state to the liquid state. In this
paper, an underwater sand slope model containing the upper sand slope and the bottom non-liquefied clay layer was designed. The whole
process of large deformation of flow liquefaction from the solid state to the liquid state was reproduced by the shaking table test and
recorded by the high-definition particle image velocimetry (PIV) equipment. Four main influencing factors: the acceleration amplitude
of the shaking table, the frequency of the shaking table, the relative density of the sand slope, and the slope ratio of height and width of
the sand slope, were considered. During the test, the dynamic response characteristics of acceleration and excess pore water pressure
(EPWP) within the underwater sand slope model were monitored and analyzed in the whole deformation process to reveal the mecha-
nism of the sand liquefaction process and the law of development and provide data support for subsequent research.
Ó 2023 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Japanese Geotechnical Society. This is an open access article under the CC BY-
NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Keywords: Shaking table test; PIV analysis; Liquefaction; Excess pore water pressure; Effective stress ratio

1. Introduction et al., 2016; Ye et al., 2020). And with frequent worldwide

Liquefaction is a geological phenomenon in which the
shear strength of sand soils is decreased or even completely
lost when a dynamic load is applied (Hadi and
Mohammad, 2019). It is usually judged by the relationships
between the excess pore water pressure (EPWP) and the
initial effective stress, strain value in the laboratory test,
or ground motions in the field (Gu et al., 2022;
Teparaksa and Koseki, 2018). Especially during earth-
quakes, the occurrences of liquefaction phenomena,
accompanied by sand boil, subsidence, or lateral spreading,
will result in serious damage to buildings and infrastruc-
tures (Chen et al., 2015; Krishnan and Shukla, 2022). Sev-
ere liquefaction disasters of sand soils have occurred in
many major historical earthquakes (Mase, 2017; Otsubo
Peer review under responsibility of The Japanese Geotechnical Society.
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: hejie@tongji.edu.cn (J. He).
earthquakes in recent years, large-scale flow liquefaction of
sand soils is still one of the main damage phenomena
induced by earthquakes (Ye et al., 2018; Huang and Yu,
2013; Wang et al., 2020).
Historically, researchers have conducted aerial and
ground surveys to study liquefaction at various places
(Ecemis, 2013). According to relevant studies,
earthquake-triggered liquefaction in loose sand soils can
more easily result in large flow deformations such as land-
slides or debris compared to the situation of medium-
density sand soils. These large flow deformations are the
direct causes of those catastrophic structural damages
(Hadi and Mohammad, 2019; Kavand et al., 2021). In
2018, the earthquake in the Palu area of Indonesia trig-
gered massive liquefaction accompanied by large-scale flow
deformation. The ground in the liquefied area, approxi-
mately 2500 m long and 1500 m wide, drifted nearly
600 m, resulting in damage to all the buildings in the area.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sandf.2023.101357
0038-0806/Ó 2023 Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of The Japanese Geotechnical Society.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
 X. Feng et al.
Therefore, it is of great significance to study the large
deformation of flow liquefaction in the loose sediment
region under seismic conditions.
The formal and extensive research on the large deforma-
tion of flow liquefaction mainly began in the 1980 s with the
Japanese Nihonkai-Chubu earthquake, when a large num-
ber of structures, such as houses, bridges, and underground
structures et al., were damaged because of the large lateral
displacement caused by large deformation of flow liquefac-
tion of sand soils. (Hamada and Wakamatsu, 1998; Sasaki
et al., 1992; Tamate and Towhata, 1999; Towhata et al.,
1999; Yasuda et al., 1992; Yasuda and Tohno, 1988). Since
then, many scholars have conducted extensive research on
the large deformation of flow liquefaction. Towhata et al.
(1999) first considered the liquefied soil as a fluid based on
the analysis of large lateral deformation of liquefied soil.
Sasaki et al. (1992) carried out a series of shaking table tests
to study the large deformation of flow deformation of sandy
soils and found some similarities between the sand soils in
the liquefied state and the fluids. Hamada and
Wakamatsu (1998) found that the properties of sand soils
flow like fluids at the initial stage. When the deformation
develops to a certain extent, the density magnitude of sand
soils determines the deformation value at the later stage of
the flow. Ye et al. (2018) took a series of shaking table tests
with different shaking durations to investigate the relique-
faction behavior of sand. Based on the shaking table tests,
Yasuda et al. (1992) found that the permanent flow defor-
mation resulting from the liquefaction of sand soils was
related to the thickness of the sand layer. Okamura et al.
(2001) found that the large deformation of flow liquefaction
was closely related to the permeability coefficient of the soil
layer by centrifugal shaking table model tests. Using the
fluid mechanics approach, Chen et al. (2015) studied the liq-
uefied sand soils and concluded that they behave as shear-
thinning non-Newtonian fluids. Based on the results of
shaking table test, MOSS et al. (2020) synthetically ana-
lyzed the lab and field measurements before, during, and
after seismic soil liquefaction. As a whole, many large defor-
mation mechanisms of flow liquefaction have been observed
through laboratory model tests. A large amount of data on
pore water pressure and flow deformation characteristics of
soils after liquefaction have been obtained.
In fact, the large deformation of flow liquefaction for
sand soils triggered by earthquakes is a gradually progress-
ing transformation from the solid phase to the liquid phase
(Dunatunga and Kamrin, 2015; Li et al., 2021, 2018; Prime
et al., 2014). At the early stage of the earthquake, the sed-
iment of sand soils has a relatively close contact among the
particles with high stiffness and bearing capacity, and acts
as a solid nature. Then, due to the continuous effect of seis-
mic load, the relative shrinkage trend among soil particles
occurs accompanied by the rise of the internal pore water
pressure. The soil structure is gradually damaged until liq-
uefaction occurs. At that time, soil particles will be sus-
pended and flow together with the pore water. The
overall soil behaves like a liquid as a whole. Therefore, it
2
Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357
is also essential to study the whole process of the large
deformation of flow liquefaction. While until now, there
is not enough research on the entire process of the large
deformation of flow liquefaction.
For the relative researches on the liquefaction during the
vibration, there are mainly two common laboratory tests:
the shaking table test and the centrifuge test. For the shak-
ing table test, the liquefied soil is basically flat and tiled
within the model box (Moss et al., 2020; Ha et al., 2011;
Haddad et al., 2022). However, relative researches on the
underwater sand slope model by the shaking table test
are less. Although there are more researches on the liquified
sand slope by the centrifuge test (Ng et al., 2022; Zhou
et al., 2018), the study on the actual entire progress of
the flow liquefaction for the slope model along the slideway
from the solid state to the liquid state during the vibration
is still less. In this paper, the liquified underwater sand
slope model with slideway is specially designed based on
the small shaking table test system. Besides, different from
the slope model centrifuge test, which can provide a higher
gravitational acceleration field, the shaking table test can-
not fully satisfy the similitude ratios and is aimed at the
studies of the basic law of flow liquefaction.
In addition, the underwater sand slope model is formed
by the method of sand falling above the water. During the
preparation of the slope, the water is added to the model
box ahead of the sand. Compared to the method of dry
packing method, the method of sand falling above the
water can obtain a better saturation and relative density
of the sand particles inside the slope to ensure the test result
of flow liquefaction. As the higher degree of operational
difficulty, the use of the method for the underwater sand
slope is less in relative research. The detailed preparation
of the underwater sand slope can be seen in section 2.4 in
this paper.
As the main purpose of the test is to reproduce and ana-
lyze the whole progress of large deformation of flow lique-
faction from the solid state to the liquid state, four
influencing factors: the acceleration amplitude of the shak-
ing table, the frequency of the shaking table, the relative
density of the sand slope, and the slope ratio of height
and width of the sand slope, were considered. During the
test, the whole deformation progress of the slope model
in different test groups was recorded and processed by a
high-definition particle image velocimetry (PIV) equip-
ment. The dynamic response characteristics of liquefied
indexes within the slope model were monitored and ana-
lyzed by the acceleration and pore water pressure (PWP)
sensors. The flow pattern and the development law of large
deformation of flow liquefaction were discussed and sum-
marized in detail in sections 3-4. The test results will pro-
vide reliable data support for our subsequent research.
2. Shaking table test
In order to reproduce the phenomenon of the whole
transition from the solid phase to the liquid phase for sand
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

soils, an underwater saturated sand slope model was
designed. The corresponding diagrams of the shaking table
test in 2D and 3D, including materials and equipment such
as the shaking table test system, liquefied sand, clay, model
box, sensors et al., are shown in Fig. 1.
2.1. Testing materials
There are two different materials used to form the
underwater sand slope model in this study (Fig. 2). One
is the loose fine sand, which is used to form the upper liq-
uefied sand slope. And the other is the clay, which is used
to form the bottom non-liquefied layer to provide the
rough surface as the slideway during the process of the flow
liquefaction. The fine sand is the ordinary white quartz
sand from Anhui Province, China. The basic physical
and mechanical parameters for the sand are shown in
Table 1 and Fig 3. Besides, a few colored coarse quartz
sand (Fig. 2(c)) were mixed with the fine sand near the
inner wall of the model box to obtain a better PIV analysis
effect.
2.2. Shaking table device
A small electromagnetic shaking table test system
(Fig. 4) was used in this test. It is mainly composed of a
shaking table, a model box, and a controller device. The
maximum square table size of the shaking table is 50 cm
with the maximum rated load value of 100 kg. Based on
the controller device, the vibration of the mechanical vibra-
tion device inside the shaking table can be achieved by the
stimulation of an electromagnetic coil. The vibration direc-
tion of the shaking table can be vertical and horizontal
with a vibration frequency of 1–400 Hz. During the vibra-
tion, the frequency value can be directly confirmed, but the
peak acceleration value must be controlled indirectly by the
interactive adjustment of the amplitude module from the
controller device. The model box, whose size is 50  20

Fig. 1. Diagram of the shaking table tests: (a) 2D (b) 3D.

Fig. 2. Tested sand and clay: (a) Ordinary quartz sand (b) Clay (c) Colored quartz sand for PIV analysis.

Table 1
Physical properties of the ordinary quartz sand.
Specific gravity Relative density calibration Maximum and minimum dry Void ratio Parameters For distribution Direct shear test
density curve
Gs 10 cm height 20 cm height qdmax qdmin emax emin CU CC u

Dr [%] Dr [%] [g/cm3] [g/cm3] [°]

2.63 32.90 43.70 1.78 1.37 0.92 0.48 2.00 1.04 38.90

3
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Fig. 3. Particle size distribution curve of the tested sand.

One acceleration sensor and two pore water pressure

sensors were used in the shaking table test. In order to
record the acceleration amplitudes with time during the
vibration, the acceleration sensor was attached to the front
surface of the shaking table with a hot-melt adhesive. Its
sensitivity is 474.34 mV/g. Two pore water pressure sensors
were placed at the designated locations, which are labeled
as #1 and #2 from up to down. The corresponding height
difference between #1 and #2 is approximately 5.5 cm. The
sensitivity, resolution, and range for pore water pressure
sensors are 0.2 mV/g, 0.01 kPa, and 20 kPa, respectively.
In order to prevent being influenced by the movement of
sand particles during the test, pore water pressure sensors
were fixed within the model box by a retractable and pre-
fabricated rod.
Fig. 4. Major devices of the shaking table test system: (a) shaking table (b)
controller device (c) model box.
2.3. PIV analysis

 30 cm (length  width  height), is fixed on the shaking
table. It is made up of highly transparent organic glass with
a thickness of 2 mm. In order to weaken the influence of
the boundary effect during the vibration, two pieces of
3 mm thick high-density sponges were pasted on the left
and right side walls of the model box.(See Fig 5).
As a non-contact, instantaneous, dynamic, and velocity
field measurement technique, particle image velocimetry
(PIV) analysis has emerged since the late 1970 s and was
first applied in fluid mechanics (White et al., 2003). It has
been widely used in laboratory tests of geotechnical
engineering, such as flow-slip deformation and foundation

Fig. 5. Specimen preparation process: (a) consolidation of un-liquefied layer, (b) the setting of pore water pressure sensors, (c) final underwater sand slope
model.
4
 X. Feng et al.
penetration, to study the particles’ vector motions (Saiyar
et al., 2011; Sun et al., 2020). In this paper, the large defor-
mation of flow liquefaction was investigated by the PIV
analysis.
Two high-precision cameras were set up on the front
and back sides of the model box to record the entire pro-
cess of the test in video format with a framerate of 60
FPS. Two LED lights and a non-reflective white back-
ground fabric with the 3D bracket (Fig. 4) were both
placed upon the shaking table device to ensure the clarity
of the video screen. When the vibration was over, the
videos would be exported and decomposed into a series
of successive JPG format images with a resolution of
3840  2160 pixels. Before the formal PIV analysis, the
image correction by the OpenCV method in Python was
conducted. The scene that needs to be analyzed in the dif-
ferent pictures can always stay in the same pixel coordinate
position because of the vibration. Then, a series of frames
processed by the image correction was imported into the
PIVlab module in MATLAB. The corresponding deforma-
tion characteristics and vector maps during the vibration
were finally obtained by the PIV analysis.
2.4. Specimen preparation process
The specimen was prepared as the following steps:
a) Preparation for the non-liquefied layer at the model
box’s bottom. To imitate the topographic conditions of
the actual site, a specified thickness of non-liquefied sub-
grade soil was designed at the bottom of the model box.
It was first formed based on the liquid slurry, which was
a mixture of clay and water in a specific proportion. Then,
a certain amount of the slurry was slowly poured into the
bottom of the model box to await the consolidation. Dur-
ing the consolidation, it should be noticed that the surface
of the soil must be kept moist to prevent excessive evapo-
ration and cracks. Finally, the thickness of the final non-
liquefied layer was approximately 2 cm.
b) Place the pore water pressure and acceleration sen-
sors, and fix the lines of sensors to reduce the influence
of the lines during the test.
c) Preparation for the underwater sand slope upon the
non-liquefied layer. Plastic scales were pasted on the sur-
face of the model box in both horizontal and vertical direc-
tions. The outline of the sand slope was drawn on the
model box as the reference with a marker pen. Then, the
underwater sand slope was formed by the method of sand
falling above the water at a certain height. When the water
was carefully added into the model box on and off, the
water’s surface within the model box should always be kept
above the surface of underwater sand soils with a height of
5 cm. The sand held in a particular funnel was evenly sprin-
kled above the water surface with a height difference of
10 cm (Dr=32.9%) or 20 cm (Dr=43.7%) to ensure the
same relative density of underwater sand soils. Meanwhile,
one prefabricated plastic sheet, which was the same as the
shape of the sand slope, was used to place one side within
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Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357
the model box. The distance between the plastic sheet and
the inner wall of the model box was approximately 1 cm.
When sprinkling to the side of the plastic sheet, the current
fine sand needs to be mixed with colored coarse sand to
take the PIV analysis better. In addition, the formation
of the underwater sand slope was constantly controlled
and formed with the assistance of the filter cloth, which
can be fixed on both sides of the model box during the sand
falling. When the underwater sand slope reaches the prede-
termined height, the filter cloth and the plastic sheet can be
cautiously removed. Then the fully saturated underwater
sand slope is finally formed after standing for 12 h.
d) Set up the PIV record device and adjust LED lights.
Turn on the dynamic data acquisition device, and return
the values of sensors to 0. Then, adjust the frequency value
and vibration acceleration value by the controller device,
and turn on the horizontal vibration switch button to carry
out the shaking table test until there is not any change for
the sand within the model box.
2.5. Test scheme
In this paper, four different influencing factors: the
acceleration amplitude of the shaking table (a), the fre-
quency of the shaking table (f), the relative density of the
sand slope (Dr), and the slope ratio of height and width
of the sand slope (i), were considered. The design of the
slope angle is referred to by the internal friction angle of
the sand based on laboratory test. Before the formal shak-
ing table test, several slope models with different slope
angles were specially tested to consider whether the shear
failure is more obvious in the process of vibration in
advance. Finally, a total of 19 test groups were designed,
as shown in Table 2. Two positions of pore water pressure
sensors, labeled as #1 and #2 from up to down, are used as
the study locations. During each test, the geometric config-
uration, displacement, and velocity of sand soils are
recorded by cameras. Excess pore water pressure (EPWP)
and acceleration data are collected by sensors to analyze
the mechanical characteristics of the liquefied slope in the
transition from the solid state to the liquid state. For the
shaking table device, the output frequency value can be
directly adjusted. In contrast, the output acceleration
amplitudes are indirectly controlled by the output ampli-
tude values of the shaking table during the test. And the
output amplitude values are adjusted by the built-in inter-
active amplitude modulation mode of the shaking table
device. It is noted that the interactive amplitude modula-
tion mode contains two different parameters, either of
which can be adjusted to change the output amplitude
value of the shaking table during the test. In this study,
there are mainly three different groups of double parame-
ters for adjusting the amplitude value of the shaking table:
80–21, 50–21, and 30–21. The detailed output acceleration
amplitude results by the interactive amplitude modulation
mode are shown in Table 2. There are mainly three differ-
ent acceleration time-history curves (Fig. 6) in this paper.
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Table 2
Test groups.
No. Sand slope shape Shaking table falling sand method
crest base Height Ratio i Slope Frequency f Double parameters for Acceleration Falling Relative
width width angle adjusting the amplitude in amplitude a distance density Dr
[cm] [cm] [cm] [1] [°] [Hz] the interactive amplitude [g] [cm] [%]
modulation mode
1 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 4 80–21 0.32 10 32.9
2 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 4 50–21 0.22 10 32.9
3 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 4 30–21 0.16 10 32.9
4 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 4 80–21 0.32 20 43.7
5 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 4 50–21 0.16 20 43.7
6 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 4 30–21 0.16 20 43.7
7 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 2 80–21 0.088 10 32.9
8 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 2 80–21 0.088 20 43.7
9 3 27 14 1:1.93 27.4 3 80–21 0.22 10 32.9
10 3 22 14 1:1.57 32.5 4 80–21 0.32 10 32.9
11 3 22 14 1:1.57 32.5 4 50–21 0.22 10 32.9
12 3 22 14 1:1.57 32.5 4 30–21 0.16 10 32.9
13 3 22 14 1:1.57 32.5 4 80–21 0.32 20 43.7
14 3 22 14 1:1.57 32.5 4 50–21 0.22 20 43.7
15 3 16 14 1:1.14 41.2 4 80–21 0.32 10 32.9
16 3 16 14 1:1.14 41.2 4 50–21 0.22 10 32.9
17 3 16 14 1:1.14 41.2 4 30–21 0.16 10 32.9
18 3 16 14 1:1.14 41.2 4 80–21 0.32 20 43.7
19 3 16 14 1:1.14 41.2 4 50–21 0.22 20 43.7

Fig. 6. Acceleration time-history curve by the interactive amplitudes: (a) 0.32 g (b) 0.22 g (c) 0.16 g.

The acceleration time-history curves were analyzed by the
frequency spectrum analysis, and the results satisfied the
frequency value.
3. Test results
3.1. Factor 1: Acceleration
Fig. 7 shows the EPWP time-history curves for various
acceleration amplitudes with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the
frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%. Dur-
ing the vibration, a large sinking deformation will occur
within the underwater sand slope accompanied by obvious
changes of EPWP value. The EPWP values in #1 and #2
can be directly obtained by the pore water pressure sensors.
The value of the initial effective stress at different buried
depth is calculated by the formula: r’=q’gh, where q’ is
the effective density of the saturated sand, and is calculated
according to the basic physical parameters; h is the height
6
between the surface of the sand slope and the pore water
pressure sensors, and is calculated based on the coordinates
of images extracted by videos. The variable ru is defined as
the ratio of the EPWP value to the initial effective stress
value at different buried depth. Then based on the data
from Fig. 7, the corresponding ru time-history curves for
various acceleration amplitudes (Fig. 8) are also obtained.
In slope conditions, shear failure and significant strains can
occur before the ru value reaches 1.0. Therefore, in this
study, the phenomenon and mechanism of flow liquefac-
tion were investigated not only by ru values, but also
through the video footage of slope deformation during
the vibration. The ru value is mainly used to indicate the
buildup of excess pore water pressure and the potential
trend of the flow liquefaction of the underwater sand slope.
From Figs. 7-8, there is a common trend that the EPWP
and the ru values gradually increase initially and decrease
afterward. When the acceleration amplitude is 0.16 g,
EPWP values in #1 and #2 are smaller than the initial
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Fig. 7. EPWP time-history curve for various acceleration amplitudes with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of
32.9%: (a) 0.32 g (b) 0.22 g (c) 0.16 g.

Fig. 8. ru time-history curve for various acceleration amplitudes with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%: (a)
0.32 g (b) 0.22 g (c) 0.16 g.

effective stress values at different buried depth. The sand

slope is in a stable state. When the acceleration amplitude
is up to 0.22 g, the EPWP values in #1 and #2 gradually
increase. Meanwhile, the growth rate of EPWP value in
#2 is larger than that in #1 during the rise stage of the
EPWP time-history curve. After the EPWP value reaches
the peak state, the particles inside the slope move violently,
and the stable state is broken with the occurrence of local
or overall deformation of the slope. At this time, the seep-
age channel is easily generated and connected between the
bottom and the shallow position. The EPWP values in #1
and #2 tend to be the same, and the ru values in #1 are lar-
ger than those in #2. Therefore, the shallow position of the
underwater sand slope is more likely to approach the lique-
faction state during the vibration. When the vibration
acceleration is up to 0.32 g, the ru value rises rapidly. Fig. 9. Statistics of maximum ru in different acceleration amplitude
conditions.
By statistics, the maximum ru values in different acceler-
ation amplitude conditions are shown in Fig. 9. It can be
seen that the larger the acceleration amplitude is, the larger tude is 0.32 g, as soon as the vibration starts, the soil in the
the maximum ru value would be for the same conditions of upper area of the slope is the first to sink rapidly, and the
the slope. For the underwater sand slope, the sand soils in angle at the front of the slope gradually gets steeper. As the
the shallow position are more likely to reach the liquefied vibration goes on, the slope gradually reaches the liquefied
state than that in the bottom position during the vibration. state and starts to the large deformation of flow liquefac-
Comparisons between the initial and the final state of tion with the forward flowing like a liquid. Due to the lim-
the underwater sand slope are conducted by MATLAB. itation of the model box size, when the soil touches the
In Fig. 10, the area in purple color presents the lost part forward wall of the model box, it stops moving and starts
compared with the initial state. And in contrast, the area to be accumulated by a certain thickness. When the accel-
in green color shows the increasing part compared with eration amplitude is reduced to 0.16 g, the large deforma-
the initial state. Then based on the PIV analysis and the tion of flow liquefaction is not apparent. The slope starts
image correction, the vector images of the sand slope at with the flow deformation at the vibration time of 3 s. Only
the same time for various acceleration amplitude condi- a small amount of soil at the top of the slope moves at a
tions are obtained in Fig. 11. When the acceleration ampli- slower speed.
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 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Fig. 10. Comparison between the initial state and the final state of the slope for various acceleration amplitudes with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the
frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%: (a) 0.32 g (b) 0.22 g (c) 0.16 g.

Fig. 11. PIV vector results at the same time for various acceleration amplitudes with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative
density of 32.9%: (a) 0.32 g (b) 0.22 g (c) 0.16 g.

During the process of the flow liquefaction of the slope
from the solid state to the liquid state, the movement effect
of sand soils for the shallow part of the underwater sand
slope is earlier and more prominent than that for the bot-
tom part. The liquefied duration time in the shallow part
of the underwater sand slope is relatively longer than that
in the bottom part. Besides, when the acceleration ampli-
tude is reduced, the sand soils within the slope are easier
to dissipate during the vibration and cannot continue to
maintain the liquefied state. Then the influenced range
and effect of the flow liquefaction from the solid state to
the liquid state gradually decrease until the slope is finally
in a stable state. The movement of the slope at the same
time is also reduced according to the PIV vector results
with the maximum velocity value from 0.01 m/s,
0.006 m/s to less than 0.004 m/s (Fig. 11). The slope is
easier to maintain stability after the flow liquefaction state.
3.2. Factor 2: Frequency
Figs. 12 - 13 shows EPWP and ru time-history curves for
various frequency values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the
acceleration amplitude of 0.22 g, and the relative density of
32.9%. During the vibration, it can be seen that when the
frequency value is larger, the maximum EPWP and maxi-
mum ru values are simultaneously larger and earlier up to
the peak state. At this time, the slope is more prone to
approaching the liquefied state.
When the frequency is 3 Hz, the slope remains stable
and does not start the flow deformation. The flow deforma-
tion of the slope from the solid state to the liquid state is
not obvious. Only a small amount of soil at the top of
the slope slides down to the foot of the slope during the
vibration. The overall shape of the slope does not make
apparent changes. Based on the Figs. 14-15, it is clear that

Fig. 12. EPWP time-history curve for various frequency values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.22 g, and the relative density
of 32.9%: (a) 3 Hz (b) 4 Hz.

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 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Fig. 13. ru time-history curve for various frequency values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.22 g, and the relative density of
32.9%: (a) 3 Hz (b) 4 Hz.

Fig. 14. Comparison between the initial state and the final state of the slope for various frequency values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration
amplitude of 0.22 g, and the relative density of 32.9%: (a) 3 Hz (b) 4 Hz.

Fig. 15. PIV vector results at the same time for various frequency values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.22 g, and the
relative density of 32.9% (a) 3 Hz (b) 4 Hz.

the impact range of slope flow is more extensive under the
frequency condition of 4 Hz. The maximum velocity of the
slope by PIV analysis at the same time is also larger from
0.01 m/s to 0.012 m/s. Therefore, when the frequency value
is reduced, the underwater sand slope is less likely to be liq-
uefied and remains more stable. Then the influenced range
and effect of the flow liquefaction from the solid state to the
liquid state gradually decrease until the slope is finally in a
stable state.
3.3. Factor 3: Relative density
Figs. 16-17 show EPWP and ru time-history curves for
various relative density values with the slope ratio of
1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.32 g, and the fre-
quency of 4 Hz. When the relative density of the underwa-
ter sand slope decreases, the phenomenon of vibration
shrinkage is more obvious during the vibration. At this
time, the differences in EPWP between #1 and #2 are more

9
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Fig. 16. EPWP time-history curve for various relative density values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.32 g, and the frequency
of 4 Hz: (a) 32.9% (b) 43.7%.

Fig. 17. ru time-history curve for various relative density values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.32 g, and the frequency of
4 Hz: (a) 32.9% (b) 43.7%.

prominent. The ru values in #1 and #2 with a relative den-
sity of 32.9% are larger than that with a relative density of
43.7%. Thus, the sand slope is easier to reach the liquefied
state.
By statistics, the maximum ru value in #1 and #2 under
the different relative density conditions are shown in
Fig. 18. It can be seen that when the relative density of
the underwater sand slope is reduced, the maximum EPWP
and maximum ru at the same position are larger. At this
time, the underwater sand slope is more likely to reach
the liquefied state.
From Figs. 19-20 by the image comparison and PIV
analysis, it can be seen that when the relative density of
the underwater sand slope is smaller, the impact range of
slope flow is more extensive during the vibration. At this
time, the flow deformation of the slope from the solid state
to the liquid state is more obvious. And corresponding the
maximum velocity of the slope by PIV analysis at the same
time is also larger from 0.01 m/s to 0.012 m/s (Fig. 20).
When the flow liquefaction occurs during the vibration,
the flow range and the flow vector can be indirectly used
as apparent indicators to observe the intensity of the flow
liquefaction. Therefore, combined with the above analysis,
it can be seen that increasing the relative density of sand
will decrease the influenced effect and range of the flow liq-
uefaction from the solid state to the liquid state.

3.4. Factor 4: Slope ratio

Figs. 21-22 show EPWP and ru time-history curves for

various slope ratios with the acceleration of 0.32 g, the fre-
quency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%. When
the slope angle is gentler, the EPWP value for #1 and #2
Fig. 18. Statistics of maximum ru in different relative density conditions. sites inside the slope is more obvious during the vibration.
10
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Fig. 19. Comparison between the initial state and the final state of the slope for various relative density values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the
acceleration amplitude of 0.22 g, and the frequency of 4 Hz: (a) 32.9% (b) 43.7%.

Fig. 20. PIV vector results at the same time for various relative density values with the slope ratio of 1:1.93, the acceleration amplitude of 0.22 g, and the
frequency of 4 Hz: (a) 32.9% (b) 43.7%.

Fig. 21. EPWP time-history curve for various slope ratios with the acceleration of 0.32 g, the frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%: (a)
1:1.93 (b) 1:1.57 (c) 1:1.14.

Fig. 22. ru time-history curve for various slope ratios with the acceleration of 0.32 g, the frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%: (a) 1:1.93 (b)
1:1.57 (c) 1:1.14.

Thus, the slope is much easier to reach the liquefied state.
When the slope angle is steeper, the flow deformation along
the shallow surface of the slope is more obvious. At this
time, there is easily the formation of new seepage channels,
which is bad for the slope to be a liquefied state.
11
By statistics, the maximum ru values in #1 and #2 under
the different slope ratio conditions are shown in Fig. 23. It
can be seen that when the slope is gentler, the maximum ru
value is larger in the same position. The underwater sand
slope is more likely to reach the liquefied state.
 X. Feng et al.
Fig. 23. Statistics of maximum ru in different slope ratio conditions.
From Figs. 24-25 by the image comparison and PIV
analysis, it can be seen that the sand slope with a gentle
slope angle has a relatively more extensive impact range
of slope flow during the vibration. At this time, the flow
deformation of the slope from the solid state to the liquid
state is more obvious. And corresponding maximum veloc-
ity of the slope by PIV analysis at the same time is also lar-
ger from 0.01 m/s, 0.016 m/s to 0.02 m/s (Fig. 25).
Therefore, the sand slope is more challenging to reach
the liquefied state when the slope angle is steeper. Then
the influenced range and effect of the flow liquefaction from
the solid state to the liquid state is less obvious until the
slope is finally in a stable state.
Fig. 24. Comparison between the initial state and the final state of the slope for various slope ratios with the acceleration of 0.32 g, the frequency of 4 Hz,
and the relative density of 32.9%: (a) 1:1.93 (b) 1:1.57 (c) 1:1.14.
Fig. 25. PIV vector results at the same time for various slope ratios with the acceleration of 0.32 g, the frequency of 4 Hz, and the relative density of 32.9%:
(a) 1:1.93 (b) 1:1.57 (c) 1:1.14.
12
Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357
4. Discussion
4.1. Multiple linear regression analysis
According to the maximum ru values of 19 test groups in
#1 during vibration, the influencing ranks of the four fac-
tors to the flow liquefaction of slope from the solid state to
the liquid state are further simply analyzed by the multiple
linear regression analysis. The maximum ru value of #1 is
defined as the dependent variable Y. The four factors: ac-
celeration amplitude, frequency, relative density, and slope
ratio, are the independent variables X1, X2, X3, and X4,
respectively. Then the multivariate linear equation can be
defined as Y = a0 + a1 X1 + a2 X2 + a3 X3 + a4 X4, where
the dependent variable Y is the function of the independent
variable X. Based on the data normalization of the four
controlling factors, the general form of the multivariate lin-
ear regression equation is converted to the standard form
of the regression equation: Z =b1 ZX1 +b2 ZX2 + b3 ZX3
+ b4 ZX4. According to the standard regression coefficient
b, the impact of the independent variable on the dependent
variable is greater when the absolute value is higher. The
influencing degree among the four factors can therefore
be obtained by comparing the b values. The corresponding
processed results are shown in Tables 3-5.
In Table 3, R indicates the fitting degree of the multiple
linear regression model, and R2 indicates the coefficient of
determination. When the R2 value is higher, the dependent
variables are more accurate. From Table 3, the R2 value is
high, which means the obtained linear regression analysis is
meaningful.
 X. Feng et al. Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357

Table 3
Model summary.
Model R R2 Adjusted R2 Errors in standard estimates Durbin-Watson Statistic
1 0.917 0.841 0.796 0.15474 2.653

Table 4
Variance analysis.
Model Sum of squares df Mean square F Sig.
1 Regression 1.774 4 0.444 18.526 0.000
Residual 0.335 14 0.024
Total 2.110 18

Table 5
Multiple linear regression coefficients.
Non-standard coefficient Standard coefficient b t Sig.
B Standard error
Constant 0.146 0.342 0.428 0.675
Acceleration 4.138 0.583 0.940 7.095 0.000
Frequency 0.004 0.072 0.008 0.061 0.952
Relative density -0.004 0.007 -0.062 -0.574 0.575
Slope ratio -0.700 0.226 -0.354 -3.093 0.008

According to the variance analyzed table (Table 4), the
significance value is less than 0.05, which satisfies the
requirement of the multiple linear regression theory. There-
fore, the multiple linear regression model presents the sig-
nificance, and the independent variable presents a
significant effect on the dependent variable. By comparing
the b values in Table 5, the rank of influencing degree
among these four factors is: acceleration amplitude > slope
ratio > relative density > frequency.
4.2. Flow pattern analysis
Based on the above testing results, it was found that
there are two different types of deformation for the under-
water sand slope: the flow-slip deformation and the sliding
deformation, except for the stable state of the slope during
the vibration. The detailed distribution of flow traces with
time is outlined in Fig. 26.
When the flow-slip deformation occurs during the vibra-
tion, the height of the soils around the upper slope
decreases accompanied by the rise of the slope surface,
resulting in the increase of the slope angle. At this time,
the underwater sand slope starts to move forward like a liq-
uid with the overall sinking of the slope. The flow liquefac-
tion of the slope from the solid state to the liquid state
plays a leading role during the vibration. When the soil
touches the forward wall of the model box, it stops to be
accumulated by a certain thickness. During the flow-slip
deformation, the EPWP value within the sand soils rises
rapidly above the liquefaction line at the beginning of the
vibration. Then the EPWP value drops to a relatively stable
range to maintain the liquefied state as the vibration goes
on. This kind of deformation mainly appears in the case
of the larger acceleration amplitude and the frequency
value.
When the sliding deformation occurs during the vibra-
tion, only the soils around the shallow surface of the slope
will slide down with the decrease of the slope angle. During
the whole progress of the sliding deformation, the EPWP
value within the sand slope rises at the beginning of the

Fig. 26. Flow pattern: (a) flow-slip deformation (b) sliding deformation (c) stable.
13
 X. Feng et al.
vibration. While it usually does not exceed ru value as the
vibration goes on. The flow liquefaction of the slope from
the solid state to the liquid state is not obvious. This type of
deformation generally occurs in the case of large relative
density and small acceleration amplitude.
When the acceleration and frequency of vibration are
small enough, the underwater slope is basically in a stable
state. Then the height of the slope is not reduced, and the
soils around the slope foot do not move forward.
5. Conclusions
In this paper, the large deformation of flow liquefaction
from the solid state to the liquid state for the underwater
sand slope model was reproduced and analyzed based on
the shaking table test and the PIV analysis. The underwater
sand slope was formed by the method of sand falling above
the water at a certain height. The dynamic response charac-
teristics of liquefied indexes within the slope model were
monitored and analyzed by the acceleration and pore water
pressure (EPWP) sensors. Four main influencing factors:
the acceleration amplitude of the shaking table, the fre-
quency of the shaking table, the relative density of the sand
slope, and the slope ratio of height and width of the sand
slope, were considered. The test results will provide reliable
data support for our subsequent research. The major con-
clusions are seen as follows:
a) During the vibration, a large sinking deformation will
occur within the underwater sand slope accompanied by
obvious changes of EPWP value. There is a common trend
that the EPWP and the ru values gradually increase initially
and decrease afterward. And the sand soils in the shallow
position within the underwater sand slope are more likely
to reach the liquefied state than that in the bottom position
during the vibration.
b) When the acceleration amplitude and the frequency
value increase, or the relative density and slope ratio
decrease, the underwater sand slope can easily reach the
liquefied state during the vibration. At this time, the flow
liquefaction of the slope from the solid state to the liquid
state is more obvious. The slope flows like a liquid during
the vibration. Based on the multiple linear regression anal-
ysis, the rank of influencing degree among these four fac-
tors is: acceleration > slope shape > relative density >
frequency. However, it should be noted that this ranking
conclusion is limited under 1-g small model test conditions
with limited range of the four factors.
c) Except for the stable state of the slope during the
vibration, there are mainly two different types of deforma-
tion for the underwater sand slope: the flow-slip deforma-
tion and the sliding deformation. As the strength loss of
the slope after the liquefaction, the occurrence of the for-
mer deformation is accompanied by the large flow of the
overall slope. For the latter deformation, the underwater
sand slope does not reach the liquefied state. And only
the soils around the shallow surface of the slope will slide
down with the decrease of the slope.
14
Soils and Foundations 63 (2023) 101357
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing
financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
This work is supported by the National Natural Science
Foundation of China (No. 41977225) and the China Post-
doctoral Science Foundation (No. 2019M651580). The
authors would like to express sincere thanks to the review-
ers for their thorough reviews and valuable suggestions.
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