Abdolghaffar Ghorbanipour - Department of Civil Engineering,, Zarghan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Zarghan, Iran
Mohammad Reza Baradaran - Department of Civil Engineering, Meymand Center, Islamic Azad University, Meymand, Iran
Babak Mansouri - Department of Civil Engineering, Meymand Center, Islamic Azad University, Meymand, Iran
Sahar Najmeddin - M.Sc., Concordia University, Montreal, Canada

AbstractLiquefaction usually occurs in saturated loose sandy soils. The aim of the present study is to examine liquefaction of earthdams’ heels due to a non-compacted saturated layer (a liquefiable layer) within the foundation of earth dams with differentthicknesses and depths during an earthquake. For this purpose, a non-homogenous earth dam was founded on a compact soillayer. Analysis was performed with the help of QUAKE/W. The special feature of QUAKE/W is the ability to display liquefiablezones. The results showed that simultaneous increase in the thickness and depth of the liquefiable foundation layer will reducethe liquefaction potential. The declining trend becomes more critical with increasing the thickness of liquefiable layer

Liquefaction, Earth dam heel, Earthquake, Non-compacted foundation