Coupled Seepage-Deformation Model for Predicting Pore-Water Pressure Response during Tsunami Loading

Abstract

Tsunamis induce pore-water pressures in coastal soil beds, and understanding how tsunami-induced excess pore-water pressure gradients form is not straightforward given the loading timescale and seepage effects. This study develops a coupled seepage-deformation model to describe tsunami-induced pore-water pressure response in soil beds. The coupled seepage-deformation model is implemented using the finite-difference method, and numerical experimentation is performed on saturated soil beds using hypothetical tsunamis. The results imply the dependence of the tsunami-induced excess pore-water pressure head gradient on the tsunami water’s weight and compressibility of the pore water. The results imply the importance of modeling tsunami-induced deformation, the partial drainage condition, and pore-fluid condition when considering tsunami-induced pore-water pressures in soil beds.