Modeling of Caisson Quay Wall in Three Dimensional Analysis of Liquefaction-Induced Flow

Abstract eng:
Interface element to be employed in three-dimensional analysis of liquefaction-induced flow is investigated and proposed. The Koshien-hama fill land, Kobe city, where significant liquefaction-induced flow was observed during the 1995 Kobe earthquake was analyzed at first, in order to see effectiveness of a ordinary three-dimensional analysis. It showed that displacement is very small and unrealistic especially at the corner of quay walls. Two factors are found to be responsible. The one is axial stiffness of quay wall as well as tensile stiffness of soil element. Another is separation of soil; soil element at the corner must be separate if caissons in two sides move into different directions, but it is impossible as there is only one node at the corner. There should be no stiffness between caissons in the actual situation but is connected in FE analysis, and separation is not formulated in ordinary FEM. Then use of interface element is examined. It is concluded that interface element, which can consider no-tension behavior, is necessary not only between caissons and between caisson and adjacent soil, but also between soil elements. If interface element is not installed relevantly, displacement near the corner becomes small. Moreover, displacement in the ordinary place is also constraint and is small.

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