Procedures to evaluate seismic settlement in dry sand based on CPT data—an update

Abstract

The seismic settlement of dry sands becomes one of the major geological hazards in areas where loose sandy deposits exist, and groundwater is relatively deep as human activities and urban development moving towards these areas. Research related to the evaluation of seismic settlement of dry sand seems paused for a period since pioneer work of Silver and Seed (1971) in the early 1970’s. Later research related to the topic was found by Tokimatsu and Seed (1987) and Pradel (1998). Both papers were based on the use of Standard Penetration Test (SPT). Yi (2010) was the first attempting to evaluate the seismic settlement of dry sand using Cone Penetration Test (CPT) data. In this paper, the procedures to evaluate seismic settlement in dry sand based on CPT data was summarized and the relationship between volumetric strain and cyclic shear strain was updated for CPT data by considering various effects such as fine contents and overburden pressure based on the most recent research findings.