Simplified procedure for estimating liquefaction-induced building settlement

Simplified procedure for estimating liquefaction-induced building settlement

1. Widespread, severe liquefaction occurred in the loose sandy hydraulic fills in the City of Urayasu as a result of the Tohoku earthquake. The building to the left is supported on piles, and it appears to have not displaced vertically. The adjacent ground has settled about 300 mm relative to the pile-supported building

2. Free-field methods are often used to estimate liquefactioninduced building settlement, because alternative simplified procedures that capture shear-induced deformation due to the presence of buildings are currently lacking.

3. Cyclically-induced pore water pressure generation and liquefaction may produce several mechanisms of building movement. Several of the key mechanisms of liquefactioninduced building settlement are illustrated in Figure 1. It is useful to categorize movements as ejecta-induced, shear-induced, or volumetric-induced deformations.

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