Liquefaction under Random Loading: Unit Energy Approach

Abstract

Liquefaction triggered by earthquakes is a source of major damage to structures resting on loose to medium sandy soils. The use of energy levels to define the onset of liquefaction has been validated in a previous study involving sinusoidal excitations. The present investigation extends the use of the energy concept to the kind of random excitations present in an earthquake time series. Tests conducted on sand specimens under several confining pressures and at different relative densities support this approach, which provides a solid and suitable link between laboratory and field behavior.