Liquefaction experiment and analysis projects (LEAP): Summary of observations from the planning phase

Majid T. Manzari, Mohamed El Ghoraiby, Bruce L. Kutter, Mourad Zeghal, Tarek Abdoun, Pedro Arduino, Richard J. Armstrong, Michael Beaty, Trevor Carey, Yunmin Chen, Alborz Ghofrani, David Gutierrez, Nithyagopal Goswami, Stuart K. Haigh, Wen Yi Hung, Susumu Iai, Panagiota Kokkali, Chung Jung Lee, S. P.Gopal Madabhushi, Lelio MejiaMichael Sharp, Tetsuo Tobita, Kyohei Ueda, Yanguo Zhou, Katerina Ziotopoulou

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The LEAP international collaboratory is introduced and its key objectives and main accomplishments during the planning phase of the US-LEAP (LEAP-2015) are presented. The main theme of LEAP-2015 was lateral spreading of sloping liquefiable soils. A summary of the results of the laboratory element tests performed on the selected soil (Ottawa F-65) is presented. The numerical simulations submitted by several predictors at different stages of the project are compared with the measured responses of sloping deposit specimens tested in a rigid box at six different centrifuge facilities around the world. The comparisons are presented for three rounds of simulations labeled here as types A, B, and C simulations. The type A simulations involved the response of the soil specimen to a prescribed base excitation with a maximum amplitude of 0.15g (Motion #2). Comparisons of the numerical simulations with the experimental results show that a sub-set of type A simulations were in reasonably good agreement with the responses measured in the reference centrifuge experiment. The predictors subsequently assessed the performance of their type A simulations by comparing them to the measured responses, made the necessary adjustments in their models, and conducted a type B simulation of the response of the same soil specimen subjected to an amplified base excitation with a maximum amplitude of 0.25g (Motion #4). In these type B simulations, the achieved base motions were used and the simulations showed an improved correlation with the experimental results. The predictors also conducted a type C simulation of the original test (Motion #2) using the base motions achieved on the six centrifuge facilities. The results showed very good agreement with the experimental results.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)714-743
Number of pages30
JournalSoil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering
Volume113
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2018

Keywords

  • Calibration
  • Centrifuge modeling
  • Constitutive modeling
  • Elastoplasticity
  • Liquefaction
  • Numerical modeling
  • Validation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology
  • Soil Science

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