An Endochronic-based approach for simulating pore water pressure variation during liquefaction of sand

Abstract

Liquefaction is one of the consequences of earthquake in soil layers comprised of saturated loose sands. Various aspects of liquefaction have been investigated using different methods of field, laboratory, and numerical studies. Numerical simulation of liquefaction constitutes a major part of these researches. Application of a proper constitutive law in the numerical analysis is crucial for modeling thecomplicated undrained behavior of saturated sands during dynamic loading. Simplicity of formulation, limited number of parameters, and good performance are the main features of a proper constitutive law. In this study, an Endochronicbased model for simulating liquefaction of sand is implemented into the finite element program, PISA. Coupled dynamic field equations of Biot’s theory with u-p formulation are used to determine pore fluid and soil skeleton responses. Generalized Newmark method is employed for integration in time. The developed code is capable of predicting the magnitude of the generated pore water pressure, coupled with advanced constitutive laws such as critical state twosurface plasticity as well as simple models such as Mohr- Coulomb. Simulating cyclic simple shear and centrifuge tests using Endochronic model showed favorable performance of this model for predicting the variation of pore water pressure in saturated soil layers subjected to earthquake excitations.