CE423: Introduction to Geotechnical

Earthquake Engineering

Dr. Supriya Mohanty

Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
IIT-BHU
 Course Content
• Introduction; Seismic Hazards: Mitigation of Seismic
Hazards, seismology and earthquakes, strong ground
motion, seismic hazard analysis.
• Wave propagation in unbounded media: in semi-infinite
bodies, in layered soils and attenuation of stress waves.
• Soil dynamics, Dynamic soil properties.
• Ground response analysis; Effect of local site conditions on
ground motion.
• Liquefaction: evaluation of liquefaction hazards, effects of
liquefaction.
• Case studies.
Text & Reference Books:

• Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering by Steven L.

Kramer, Publisher: Pearson.

• Fundamental Concepts of Earthquake Engineering

by Roberto Villaverde, CRC Press.
 Grading Policy

• Home Assignment & Quizzes : 10%

• Mid Sem Exam: 30%

• End Sem Exam: 60%

 Introduction
• Earthquake Engineering deals with the effects of
Earthquake on people and their environment & with
methods of reducing those effects.
• It covers different aspects of Geology, Seismology,
Geotechnical Engg., Structural Engg., Risk analysis and
other technical fields.
• Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering includes
“Geotechnical aspects of Earthquake Engineering”.
• Earthquakes are global phenomenon and a global problem.
• Earthquakes never Kills, but damage of structures during
earthquake due to incorrect or insufficient design &
constructions Kills.
 Seismic Hazards
• Hazards associated with earthquakes are known
as “Seismic Hazards”. Such as:
1. Ground Shaking
2. Structural Hazards
3. Liquefaction
4. Landslides
5. Retaining Structure
Failures
6. Lifeline Hazards
7. Tsunami Hazards etc. (harbor wave: "tsu," means
harbor, while "nami," means "wave“)
Liquefaction
• Liquefaction occurs when a loose, saturated silty sand
is subjected to earthquake shaking (cyclic/dynamic
loading), normal stress is transferred from soil matrix
to pore water due to the tendency of volume
contraction of the loose soil in an undrained
condition, results in reduction of effective stress and
partial/complete loss of strength & stiffness of soil.

• Generally uniform, fine grained, loose, round shaped

soil deposit of recent origin is highly susceptible to
liquefaction.
Liquefaction
• Introduced by Casagrande (1936).

• Serious attention because of Alaska, Niigata, Kobe, Bhuj, Nepal

Earthquakes.
(Source: NISEE)

1964 Niigata earthquake (Mw=7.5) 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake (Mw=6.9)

1995 Kobe Earthquake (Mw=6.9) 2001 Bhuj Earthquake (Mw=7.6)

Liquefaction: Theory
For a Saturated Sand: Shear Strength of Sand
s = (σn-u) tanφ = σ'n tanφ
= (γsat Z - γw Z ) tanφ = γb Z tanφ
During Earthquake
s = (γb Z - Δu) tanφ
= (γb Z - γw hw) tanφ
Complete Loss of Strength
γb Z = γw hw

hw  b G − 1
= = = icr
Z  w 1+ e Pore water pressure increase
(Prakash, 1981)
Liquefaction Theory: Mechanism
Loss of strength occurs due to transfer of inter-granular stress from
grains to pore water.
(a) If this transfer is complete, there is a complete loss of strength.
(b) However, if stress is only partially transferred from the grains to the
pore water, only a partial loss of strength occurs.
Look Closer?
Consequences of liquefaction

• Loss of bearing support

• Settlements – can be uniform in some cases, but are mostly

abrupt and non –uniform

• Floatation of buried structures, such as underground tanks

• Loss of lateral support

• Increased lateral pressures against retaining structures

• Lateral spreads (limited lateral movements)

• Lateral flows (extensive lateral movements)

Consequences of liquefaction

1964 Niigata Earthquake (Mw: 7.6, Japan): Bearing Failure

United States Geological Survey

Consequences of liquefaction

1964 Niigata Earthquake (Mw: 7.6, Japan): Lateral Spreading

Consequences of liquefaction

1994 Northridge Earthquake (Mw: 6.7, California, United States)

Consequences of liquefaction

1995 Kobe Earthquake (Mw: 6.9, Japan): Lateral Spreading

Consequences of liquefaction
1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake (Mw: 7.3, Taiwan): Differential Settlement of
bridge abutment fill
Consequences of liquefaction

2001 Bhuj Earthquake (Mw: 7.7, India)

Consequences of liquefaction
2015 Nepal Earthquake (Mw: 7.8, Nepal)
Factors Affecting Liquefaction

• Type of soil (Sand/Clay)

• Characteristics of soil particles (Gradation, shape and size of

particles)

• Drainage condition (Undrained or drained condition)

• Confining pressure

• Relative density (Loose or dense)

• Magnitude and duration of loading etc.

In-situ Geotechnical Tests for Soils
SPT
a) Overburden pressure (CN)
b) Hammer energy (CE),
c) Bore hole diameter (CB)
d) Rod length (CR),
e) Presence or absence of liner (CS) and
f) Fine content.
g) The corrected N value ((N1)60cs) is calculated by using the following Equations
(Youd et al., 2001):

For (N1)60 > 15 and silty sands or fine

sands below GWT
SPT-based method: Effect of Fines Content
Use of SPT Test Results
Clean granular soils are too dense to liquefy
and are classed as non-liquefiable
CPT
Begemann friction-cone mechanical type penetrometer
CPT Cont’d…
Use of CPT Test Results
 Example
• See the given CPT data for a soil deposit in the
attached excel spreadsheet. Find and plot the
CSR, CRR and FSL with depth for an
earthquake of Mw =7.8 and PGA=0.52g.
Assume GW depth is 2.5 m below the ground
surface. Assume saturated unit weight of soil
to be 20 kN/m3.
Soil Behaviour Type Index