Key Points for Numerical Simulation of Inclination of Buildings on Liquefiable Soil Layers

Abstract eng:
The earthquake-induced asymmetrical settlement of buildings on saturated soil layer is one of the typical phenomena in earthquake damages, which will lead to the inclination and the function loss of the buildings. Developing numerical methods for simulating the liquefaction-induced uneven settlements of the buildings is significant for seismic design of buildings and engineering disasters reduction. However, most researches are focused on the mechanism of liquefaction and assessment of liquefaction potentials or the lateral spreading of liquefaction. The corresponding numerical simulation methods for the liquefaction-induced uneven settlements of the buildings are few. The reason is that the physical process of the problem is not well understood and the key points for analyzing still are not attained. To search for the key points of the potential numerical method for calculating the building inclination due to soil liquefaction, the relationship of the inputting waves, the vertical dynamic stresses, the pore water pressures and the building settlements is investigated by the shaking table tests in the paper. The testing results indicate: (1) The pore water pressure model used in the potential method must be suitable for simulating the process of water pressure rising during the irregular loads and can exactly calculate the difference of the pore water pressures under the incident loads with same peak amplitude but different forms; (2) The pore water pressure model should be able to describe the pore water pressure variation due to the anisotropic property of soils and can distinguish the difference of the water pressures due to the compression and extension stresses; (3) The pore water pressure model should be able to calculate the effect of the consolidation ratios on the pore water pressure variation and can attain the actual process of water pressure for the soils below the buildings; (4) The potential method should be able to follow the tracks of the deformation process of the soil layers with the increasing of the pore water pressure.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket