SOIL

LIQUEFACTION

Name : Sourabh
SRN:R16CV286
School of civil engineering
REVA University
 Liquefaction
Liquefaction : Liquefaction is the name given to
the process that converts soil mass into liquid.
 Soil liquefaction

A phenomenon whereby a saturated or partially

saturated soil substantially losses 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
 When does it occurs
When the effective stress of soil is reduced to
essentially zero, which corresponds to a complete loss
of shear strength

May be initiated by
Monotonic loading
Cyclic loading
 When does it occurs

 Liquefaction occurring beneath buildings and other

structures ca cause major damage during earthquakes.

 Liquefaction occurs in cohesion less soil (typically

those with a higher content of larger grains such as sand
sized) which have water in the pore spaces , and are
poorly drained.
 How It Works
 When the seismic waves pass through the soil, the
vibrations cause the individual grains in the soil to
• move around and
• re-adjust their positions
 This ultimately result in a decrease in volume of the soil
mass as
• the grains pack more lightly together
• a reduction in porosity
 How It Works
 The pore water which was originally in those spaces
becomes compressed
• increase in pore water pressure.

 The pore water pressure becomes so high, that the

soil grains become almost floats
• causing a significant drop in the shear strenght
 Damages
 Liquefied soil , like water, cannot support the weight of
whatever is lying above it –be it the surface layer of dry soil or the
concrete floors of buildings.
 The liquefied soil under that weight is forced into any cracks and
crevasses it can find , including those in the dry soil above, or the
cracks between concrete slabs.
 It flows out onto the surface as boils, sand volcanoes and rivers of
silt. In some cases the liquefied soil flowing up a crack can erode
and widen the crack to a size big enough to accommodate a car
 How to Identify?

There are a number of different ways to evaluate the

liquefaction susceptibility of a soil deposit.

 Historical criteria

Geological criteria

Compositional criteria
THANK YOU
T