Features of earthquake-induced seabed liquefaction and mitigation strategies of novel marine structures

Abstract

With the accelerated development of marine engineering, a growing number of marine structures are being constructed (e.g., seabed pipelines, drilling platforms, oil platforms, wind turbines). However, seismic field investigations over recent decades have shown that many marine structures were damaged or destroyed due to liquefaction. Seismic liquefaction in marine engineering can have huge financial repercussions as well as a devastating effect on the marine environment, which merits our great attention. As the effects of seawater and the gas component in the seabed layers are not negligible, the seabed soil layers are more prone to liquefaction than onshore soil layers, and the liquefied area may be larger than when liquefaction occurs on land. To mitigate the impact of liquefaction events on marine engineering structures, some novel liquefaction-resistant marine structures have been proposed in recent years. This paper reviews the features of earthquake-induced liquefaction and the mitigation strategies for marine structures to meet the future requirements of marine engineering.