Earthquake-induced soil liquefaction

Course Overview

One of the leading causes of damage during earthquakes is soil liquefaction, and it can have devastating consequences on critical infrastructure such as dams, ports and other lifelines. This course will serve as a great introduction of the phenomenon of soil liquefaction, as well as go into details on simplified and advanced methods of analyses. Specifically, the phenomenon of soil liquefaction will be presented, as well as empirical and mechanistic methods to determine soil liquefaction triggering and post-liquefaction strength loss and its consequences for a range of materials (gravels, sands and silty soils). Laboratory and field testing to collect data that helps determine liquefaction triggering and post-liquefaction soil behavior (e.g. strength loss, dilation, and hardening) will be discussed. The state of the art with respect to numerical modelling of liquefaction will also be included, as well as relevant constitutive soil models. Finally, possible mitigation measures will be presented.