PB86-163110 Liquefaction of Soils During Earthquakes Committee on Earthquake Engineering Commission on Engineering and Technical Systems National Research Council NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS Washington, D.C. 1985 REPRODUCED BY NATIONAL TECHNICAL I INFORMATION SERVICE u.s. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE SPRINGFiElD, VA. 22161 NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board ofthe National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils ofthe National Academy ofSciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance. This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional charter of 1863, which establishes the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences. This study was supported by the National Science Foundation under Contract No. CEE 8418379 to the National Academy of Sciences. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this report are those of the committee and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. A limited number of copies of this report are available from: Committee on Earthquake Engineering National Academy of Sciences 2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20418 Also available from: National Technical Information Service Attention: Document Sales 5285 Port Royal Road Springfield, Virginia 22161 Printed in the United States of America ~0272 .1ft1 REPORT DOCUMENTATION \1. ItEI"OIn' NO. "'-lteclpleftC". AcceuIon No. PAGE JIBS bib3 11 ali0.S ... TItle and Subtltla .. IteIIort Dela November 1985 Liquef~ion of Soils During Earthquakes .. 7. Author(I) .. ..rfomtl. O,.anlutlon Itept. No. CETS-EE-OOl t. Perf0""1,,, O,..nlzatlon Name and Add,... 10. ~lTa.ll/Wortl Unit No. National Research Council Commission on Engineering and Tech~ical Systems 11. ContrKt(C) or Grent(Q) No. 2101 Constitution Avenue, NW (C) CEE-84l8379 Washington DC 20418 (0) 12. Sponsorl"l O,.,nlzatlon Name and Add,.., National Science Foundation 1850 G Street NW Final Report Washington DC 20550 14. 15. Supplament,,,, Nat.. 11. Abatrect (Limit: 200 _rOI) This report reviews the state of knowledge of the causes and effects of liquefaction of soils during earthquakes, documents the state of the art of analysis for safety from liquefaction, and recommends future directions for liquefaction research. It is based on a workshop held in Dedham, Massachusetts, on March 28-30, 1985, at which liquefaction specialists from the United States, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom came together to discuss present knowledge and agree on directions for the future. The work was conducted in response to requests from the National Science Foundation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 17. Document AnaI,.'1 a. Deecrlptors Liquefaction of soil, soil mechanics, ground failure. b. Identlfiers/Ollen·EndecI Te"", c. COSATI ,..Id/Q,.,p I" "'#urttr C.... (Tills ........., 11. No. of ....... Unclassified 250 Distribution unlimited. .. ....rttr CIeu CTIlIs ,...) Unclassified (See ANSI-Z3t.11) OPTIONAL fOR.. zn (4-77) (formert, NTI5-35) Department of Commerce COMMITTEE ON EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING (1984-85) Chairman George W. Housner, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena Members Robert G. Bea, P.M.B. Systems Engineering, Inc., San Francisco Ricardo Dobry, Department of Civil Engineering, Rensselaer Poly- technic Institute, Troy, New York William J. Hall, Department ofCivil Engineering, University ofIllinois, Urbana-Champaign John Loss, School of Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park Frank E. McClure, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley Joanne Nigg, Center for Public Affairs, Arizona State University, Tempe Otto W. Nuttli, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, St. Louis University, Missouri Staff O. Allen Israelsen, Executive Secretary Steve Olson, Consultant Editor Barbara J. Rice, Consultant Editor Lally Anne Anderson, Administrative Secretary Liaison Representatives William A. Anderson, Program Director, Societal Response Research, Division ofCivil and Environmental Engineering, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C. Ugo Morelli, Office of Natural and Technological Hazards, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Washington, D.C. Edgar V. Leyendecker, Center for Building Technology, National Bureau ofStandards, U.S. Department ofCommerce, Washington, D.C. James Cooper, Strategic Structures Branch, Defense Nuclear Agency, Washington, D.C. Walter W. Hays, Office of Earthquakes, Volcanoes and Engineering, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia III Preceding page blank iv COMMITTEE ON EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING (1984-85) James F. Costello, Division of Engineering Technology, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commis­ sion, Washington, D.C. Richard F. Davidson, Geotechnical Branch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of the Army, Washington, D.C. Joseph Tyrell, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, U.S. Depart­ ment of the Navy, Alexandria, Virginia Lawrence D. Hokanson, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, U.S. Department of the Air Force, Washington, D.C. J. Lawrence Von Thun, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, Denver G. Robert Fuller, Structural Engineering Division, Office of Architec­ ture and Engineering Standards, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C. Glen A. Newby, U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, D.C. Paul Krumpe, Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C. Charles F. Scheffey, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C. Richard D. McConnell, Veterans Administration, Washington, D.C. Preface This report reviews the state of knowledge of the causes and effects of liquefaction of soils during earthquakes, documents the state of the art of analysis for safety from liquefaction, and recommends future directions for liquefaction research. It is based on a workshop held in Dedham, Massachusetts, on March 28-30, 1985, at which liquefaction specialists from the United States, Japan, Canada, and the United Kingdom came together to discuss present knowledge and agree on directions for the future. The work was conducted in response to requests from the National Science Foundation and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A three-member panel of the Committe~ on Earthquake Engineering organized the workshop. The members of the panel were Ricardo Dobry (Chairman), Robert G. Bea, and Frank E. McClure. Under a subcontract from the National Research Council to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Robert V. Whitman, as principal investigator, completed detailed plans for the workshop and prepared the draft report, with the assistance of Samson Liao. Portions of the draft were rewritten at the workshop, and comments from participants submitted following the workshop were incorporated based on the best judgment of the chairman of the panel and the principal investigator. While disagreements among the participants regarding details ofthis document may still remain, we believe the report reflects the consensus of the workshop on the main aspects of the liquefaction problem. The Committee on Earthquake Engineering has also held three one­ day publi.c seminars to provide the opportunity for interested engineers, researchers, public officials, and educators to learn and discuss the findings ofthe workshop. These seminars were held between September and November 1985 in Washington, D.C.; Denver, Colorado; and San Francisco, California. George W. Housner, Chairman Committee on Earthquake Engineering v PARTICIPANTS AND OBSERVERS AT THE WORKSHOP ON LIQUEFACTION Dedham, Massachusetts, March 28-30, 1985 Participants *Robert G. Bea, P.M.B. Systems Engineering, Inc., San Francisco Gonzalo Castro, Geotechnical Engineers, Inc., Winchester, Massa- chusetts John T. Christian, Stone and Webster Engineering Corporation, Boston Ricardo Dobry, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York Neville C. Donovan, Dames and Moore, San Francisco Richard Eisner, Bay Area Region Earthquake Preparedeess Project, Oakland John M. Ferritto, Naval Civil Engineering Laboratory, Port Hueneme, California W. D. Liam Finn, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Richard Fragaszy, Department ofCivil Engineering, Washington State University, Pullman Lyman W. Heller, Geotechnical Section, U.S. Nuclear