A comparative study in reliability analysis of liquefaction potential of layered soil

Soil liquefaction during earthquakes has always received considerableattention in the literature. The inherent variability of the soilparameters which affect liquefaction potential dictates that theproblem is probabilistic rather than being deterministic. In thisresearch, the Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) is used for comparingthe reliability indices of liquefaction potential based on fourdifferent methods, namely, the triaxial test, the Standard PenetrationTest (SPT), Cone Penetration Test (CPT) and shear wave velocity.The selected stochastic parameters are corrected SPT blow count,saturated unit weight, shear wave velocity, and correlated CPT tipresistance which are modeled using truncated normal probabilitydistribution functions. In this way, earthquake magnitude isconsidered to has an exponential probability distribution function.As a result, the Probability Density Function (PDF) of the liquefaction factor of safety (FS) based on SPT, CPT, site shearwave velocity, and triaxial test are compared to each other. It showsthat the triaxial test is more reliable than other methods.

Keywords:

Reliability , Liquefaction , Stochastic , Monte Carlo simulation