Assessment of variability and uncertainties effects on the seismic response of a liquefiable soil profile

Abstract

The present work deals with the evaluation of the effect of the randomness of both soil parameters and input motion on the seismic response of a sandy soil profile. Special attention is given to estimate the relative contribution of model input parameters on (i) the probability of liquefaction apparition and (ii) the surface seismic response. The Monte Carlo simulations were used for that purpose. This analysis shows that, for the considered case, the choice of the earthquake input signal remains the most subtle parameter in order to define the liquefaction probability. Otherwise, spatial variability of both soil properties and soil model's parameters have a weak impact on the response of the soil profile. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.