Numerical Simulations of Soil Liquefaction using PLAXIS 2D

Abstract

Abstract One of the most serious and complex phenomena that can occur during earthquakes is soil liquefaction. Since Taiwan is located in the seismic zone of the Pacific Rim, where earthquakes and strong earthquakes occur frequently, the evaluation and prediction of liquefaction have attracted the attention of many authorities, researchers, and engineers in Taiwan. Therefore, in this paper, PLAXIS 2D software was used in conjunction with two model conditions, with and without deep excavation project, and two types of constitutive models, Hardening Soil model with small-strain stiffness (HSS) and UBC3D-PLM, to simulate a series of numerical analyses to predict liquefaction potential. The soil profile of Sanchong District, one of the metropolitan areas in Taiwan considered to be particularly susceptible to soil liquefaction, was selected as the soil profile. The results show that the UBC3D-PLM model has a relatively higher liquefaction potential than the Hardening Soil model with small-strain stiffness (HSS) for the model condition without the deep excavation project. However, the dynamic calculation using UBC3D-PLM model cannot be fully performed for the model condition with the deep excavation project.