The Liquefaction Potential of Sandy Silt Layers Using the Correlation Between Penetrometer Test and SPT Test

Abstract

Liquefaction is a hazardous and temporary phenomenon by which a soil saturated with water loses some or all of its resistance. The undrained conditions and a cyclic load increase the pores water pressure inside the soil and therefore a reduction of the effective stress. Nowadays many semi-empirical methods are used to introduce a proposition to evaluate the liquefaction’s potential using the in-situ test results. The objective of this paper is to study and compare the results of this semi-empirical methods and the numerical modelling results using the finite element methods. The study is based on the data of the Pressuremeter test which be correlated to the Standard Penetrometer Test using the experimental results of the Casablanca-Tangier High-Speed Line exactly between PK 116 + 450 and PK 116 + 950 and near of Moulay Bousselham city. It belongs to the Drader- Soueir basin region which is located in the North-West of Morocco. This region had a specific soil’s formation, the first 50 m are characterized by the existence of sand layers alternating with layers of clay. These formations are very loose and saturated which suggests the possibility of soil liquefaction. We present and discuss the results of applying the Idriss method and the Youd method in the evaluation of liquefaction susceptibility. Apart from the previous empirical analysis to evaluate the liquefaction potential, numerical modelling is performed in this study.