Probabilistic-based assessment of liquefaction-induced damage with analytical fragility curves

Abstract

Soil liquefaction may cause severe damages to structures mainly in terms of lateral spread and settlements, as documented during historical earthquakes. Liquefaction-potential (LP) estimation has become an important issue in seismic assessment, and this paper aims to propose a new methodology based on fragility curves. LP curves were developed and applied to two case studies performed with 3D numerical models applying Opensees. Nonlinear hysteretic materials and advanced plasticity models were used to reproduce the high nonlinear mechanisms of liquefaction, such as strong dilation tendency and cyclic shear behaviour. LP curves were applied to compare the results of the performed free field (FF) and soil–structure interaction (SSI) case studies.