Geology

Soil water

Standard penetration test

Mathematics

Soil liquefaction

Probabilistic logic

Subgrade

Penetration (warfare)

Soil science

Liquefaction

Statistics

Cone penetration test

Geotechnical engineering

Operations research

Penetration test

Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering

Liquefaction assessment has primarily been performed using in situ penetration testing, but this practice has become problematic for gravelly soils. For example, standard penetration test (SPT)- or cone penetration test (CPT)-based correlations can become unreliable owing to interference with large gravel particles, while the Becker Penetration Test, commonly used for gravelly soil, can be relatively expensive and requires conversion to an equivalent sand blow count. As an alternative, probabilistic liquefaction-triggering curves have been developed based on shear-wave velocity (Vs) using gravel sites in the Mw7.9 Wenchuan earthquake. These curves have significant uncertainty because of the small data set. In this study, new probabilistic triggering curves for gravel liquefaction have been developed based on a Vs data set. The data set consists of 174 data points (96 liquefaction and 78 no liquefaction) obtained from 17 earthquakes in seven countries within different geological environments. The larger data s...

A New Vs-Based Liquefaction-Triggering Procedure for Gravelly Soils