Seismic Performance of a Layered Liquefiable Site: Validation of Numerical Simulations Using Centrifuge Modeling (original) (raw)

Current procedures relate potential liquefaction induced settlements to foundation size and liquefiable depth. However, the analysis of field case histories suggests that the influence of foundation bearing pressure may also be a significant factor influencing such phenomena. Data from 24 buildings that suffered settlement and tilting as a consequences of soil liquefaction during the February 27th 2010 Maule earthquake in Chile, are herein analyzed and compared with data from other earthquakes. Although case history data play a crucial role in geotechnical earthquake engineering, in many cases their analysis is limited to speculation therefore experimental verification is often required. Thanks to the significant development in dynamic geotechnical centrifuge modelling in the last 30 years, we are today able to carefully reproduce field motions enhancing the reliability of experimental results. This is the case for the centrifuge tests discussed in this paper, which have been the fi...