Russell A. Green

Energy-Based Evaluation and Remediation of Liquefiable Soils

The state-of-practice for performing remedial ground densification and evaluating earthquake liquefaction potential of loose saturated sands have evolved relatively independent of each other. This is in spite of the fact that the induction of liquefaction is typically requisite for remedial ground densification of sands. Simple calculations are presented herein for estimating the mechanical energy required to densify a unit volume of clean, loose sand using deep dynamic compaction, vibro-compaction, and explosive compaction. These computer energies are compared with that required to induce liquefaction during an earthquake using the Green-Mitchell energy based liquefaction evaluation procedure. The comparison highlights the importance of the efficiency of the method in which the energy is imparted to the soil and the importance of the mode of dissipation of the imparted energy (e.g., possible modes of energy dissipation/expenditure include: breaking down of initial soil structure, ramming soil particles into denser packing, and radiating away from the treatment zone). Additionally, the comparison lays the preliminary groundwork for incorporating the vast knowledge base gained from fundamental studies on earthquake induced liquefaction into the design procedures of remedial ground densification techniques.

Damping Correction Factors for Horizontal Ground-Motion Response Spectra

Damping correction factors (dcfs) are used to adjust response spectral values corresponding to damping 5% of critical to other damping levels. Trends in the analytical response of viscously damped, linear-elastic sdof oscillators subjected to finite-duration, sinusoidal base excitations show that dcfs depend on both the frequency and duration of the ground motion, where the latter becomes significantly less influential as damping increases. These analytical trends, in conjunction with correlations relating duration and frequency content to earthquake magnitude, site- to-source distance, site classification, and tectonic setting, are used to explain/study observations in dcfs computed from a large ground-motion database for the central- eastern and western United States. For ξ ≥ 2%, the dcfs proposed by the authors depend on earthquake magnitude, site classification, and tectonic setting, all of which significantly influence the frequency content of ground motions. For ξ = 1%, the dcfs proposed by the authors additionally depend on site-to-source distance, which significantly influences the duration of ground motion. In comparison with the dcfs proposed by the authors, commonly used and recently proposed dcfs were shown to be both too low and too high, depending on the relation, period range, damping ratio, earthquake magnitude, site classification, and tectonic setting. Additionally, the dcf relations proposed in the literature for ground motions exhibiting near-fault effects should not be used for ξ < 5%, and will likely be significantly too high for periods close to that of the near-fault velocity pulse(s) for ξ ≥ 5%.

Evaluation of the Liquefaction Potential Index for Assessing Liquefaction Hazard in Christchurch, New Zealand

AbstractWhile the liquefaction potential index (LPI) has been used to characterize liquefaction hazards worldwide, calibration of LPI to observed liquefaction severity is limited, and the efficacy of the LPI framework and accuracy of derivative liquefaction hazard maps are thus uncertain. Herein, utilizing cone penetration test soundings from nearly 1,200 sites, in conjunction with field observations following the Darfield and Christchurch, New Zealand, earthquakes, this study evaluates the performance of LPI in predicting the occurrence and severity of surficial liquefaction manifestations. It was found that LPI is generally effective in predicting moderate-to-severe liquefaction manifestations, but its utility diminishes for predicting less severe manifestations. Additionally, it was found that LPI should be used with caution in locations susceptible to lateral spreading, because LPI may inconsistently predict its occurrence. A relationship between overpredictions of liquefaction severity and profiles h...

Geotechnical Aspects of Failures at Port-au-Prince Seaport during the 12 January 2010 Haiti Earthquake

Presented herein are the results of geotechnical investigations and subsequent laboratory and data analyses of the Port-au-Prince seaport following the Mw7.0 2010 Haiti earthquake. The earthquake caused catastrophic ground failures in calcareous-sand artificial fills at the seaport, including liquefaction, lateral spreads, differential settlements, and collapse of the pile-supported wharf and pier. The site characterization entailed geotechnical borings, hand-auger borings, standard penetration tests, and dynamic cone penetration tests. The laboratory tests included grain size and carbonate content tests. The observations and results presented herein add valuable field performance data for calcareous sands, which are relatively lacking in liquefaction case history databases, and the overall response of the artificial fills are consistent with predictions made using semi-empirical relations developed primarily from field data of silica sands.

Shear Wave Velocity- and Geology-Based Seismic Microzonation of Port-au-Prince, Haiti

A seismic site classification microzonation for the city of Port-au-Prince is presented herein. The microzonation is based on 35 shear wave velocity (VS) profiles collected throughout the city and a new geologic map of the region. The VS profiles were obtained using the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) method, while the geologic map was developed from a combination of field mapping and geomorphic interpretation of a digital elevation model (DEM). Relationships between mean shear wave velocity over the upper 30 m of the subsurface (VS30) and surficial geologic unit have been developed, permitting code-based seismic site classification throughout the city. A site classification map for the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program/International Building Code (NEHRP/IBC) classification scheme is provided herein. Much of the city is founded on deposits that classify as either NEHRP Site Class C or D, based on VS30. Areas of the city requiring additional subsurface information for accurate site classification are noted.

Select Liquefaction Case Histories from the 2010–2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence

The 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence began with the 4 September 2010, Mw7.1 Darfield earthquake and includes up to ten events that induced liquefaction. Most notably, widespread liquefaction was induced by the Darfield and Mw6.2 Christchurch earthquakes. The combination of well-documented liquefaction response during multiple events, densely recorded ground motions for the events, and detailed subsurface characterization provides an unprecedented opportunity to add well-documented case histories to the liquefaction database. This paper presents and applies 50 high-quality cone penetration test (CPT) liquefaction case histories to evaluate three commonly used, deterministic, CPT-based simplified liquefaction evaluation procedures. While all the procedures predicted the majority of the cases correctly, the procedure proposed by Idriss and Boulanger (2008) results in the lowest error index for the case histories analyzed, thus indicating better predictions of the observed liquefaction response.

Documenting Liquefaction and Lateral Spreading Triggered by the 12 January 2010 Haiti Earthquake

The 12 January 2010 Haiti earthquake (Mw 7.0) caused extensive damage to the Port-au-Prince region, including severe liquefaction failures along the Gulf of Gonâve coastline, along rivers north of Port-au-Prince draining into the Gulf, and a liquefaction-induced structural/bearing capacity failure of a three-story concrete hotel along the southern coast of the Gulf. During two reconnaissance missions, the authors documented ground conditions and performance at eight sites that liquefied and two sites that did not liquefy. Geotechnical characterization included surface mapping, dynamic cone penetration tests, hand auger borings, and laboratory index tests. The authors estimated median peak ground accelerations (PGAs) of approximately 0.17g to 0.48g at these sites using the Next Generation Attenuation (NGA) relations summarized by Power et. al. (2008). These case histories are documented here so that they can be used to augment databases of level-ground/near level-ground liquefaction, lateral spreading, liquefaction flow failure, and liquefaction-induced bearing capacity failure.

Response and Modeling of Cantilever Retaining Walls Subjected to Seismic Motions

@A series of nonlinear, explicit finite differ- ence analyses were performed to determine the dynamic response of a cantilever retaining wall subjected to earth- quake motions. This article outlines the calibration and validation of the numerical model used in the analyses and comparisons are presented between the results from the finite difference analyses and results from simplified techniques for computing dynamic earth pressures and permanent wall displacement (i.e., Mononobe-Okabe and Newmark sliding block methods). It was found that at very low levels of acceleration, the induced pressures were in general agreement with those predicted by the Mononobe- Okabe method. However, as the accelerations increased to those expected in regions of moderate seismicity, the induced pressures are larger than those predicted by the Mononobe-Okabe method. This deviation is attributed to the flexibility of the retaining wall system and to the observation that the driving soil wedge does not respond monolithically, but rather responds as several wedges. Ad- ∗ To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: rugreen

Damage Patterns in Port-au-Prince during the 2010 Haiti Earthquake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake represents one of the most devastating earthquakes in history. Damage to structures was widespread across the city of Port-au-Prince, but its intensity varied considerably from neighborhood to neighborhood. This paper integrates damage statistics with geologic data, shear wave velocity measurements, and topographic information to investigate the influence of these conditions on the damage patterns in the city. The results indicate that the most heavily damaged areas in downtown Port-au-Prince are underlain by Holocene alluvium with shear wave velocities that average about 350 m/s over the top 30 m. The remainder of Port-au-Prince is underlain mostly by older geologic units with higher shear wave velocities. Damage was also concentrated on hillsides around Port-au-Prince. These pockets of damage appear to have been caused by a combination of factors, including topographic amplification, soil amplification, and failure of weakly cemented, steep hillsides.

Behavior of full-scale concrete segmented pipelines under permanent ground displacements

Concrete pipelines are one of the most popular underground lifelines used for the transportation of water resources. Unfortunately, this critical infrastructure system remains vulnerable to ground displacements during seismic and landslide events. Ground displacements may induce significant bending, shear, and axial forces to concrete pipelines and eventually lead to joint failures. In order to understand and model the typical failure mechanisms of concrete segmented pipelines, large-scale experimentation is necessary to explore structural and soil-structure behavior during ground faulting. This paper reports on the experimentation of a reinforced concrete segmented concrete pipeline using the unique capabilities of the NEES Lifeline Experimental and Testing Facilities at Cornell University. Five segments of a full-scale commercial concrete pressure pipe (244 cm long and 37.5 cm diameter) are constructed as a segmented pipeline under a compacted granular soil in the facility test basin (13.4 m long and 3.6 m wide). Ground displacements are simulated through translation of half of the test basin. A dense array of sensors including LVDTs, strain gages, and load cells are installed along the length of the pipeline to measure the pipeline response while the ground is incrementally displaced. Accurate measures of pipeline displacements and strains are captured up to the compressive and flexural failure of the pipeline joints.