Shake Table Studies on Embankments on Liquefiable Soil

Abstract

Experimental studies using shaking table test on liquefaction have been widely conducted in the countries like Japan, where a number of earthquakes occur every year. Kerala, one of the coastal states, having large area of sand deposit is included in earthquake zone III. Hence, the liquefaction studies are of prime importance as many developmental projects like the coastal highway, high-speed railway tracks are on the anvil. The objective of the present study was to conduct model tests on embankments over liquefiable soil using one-dimensional shaking table. The system behaviour during shaking, effects of liquefaction on the embankment, effect of providing geotextile reinforcement to soil, pore water pressure build-up, failure mode also comes under the scope of the study. The experiments were conducted using an ingeniously developed shake table and data acquisition system. The model behaviour of embankment with and without geotextile reinforcements under shaking was conducted. The acceleration and frequency of shaking were kept as 0.2 g and 1 Hz, respectively. It was observed that geotextile reinforcement layer below the embankment can improve the liquefaction resistance of the soil. Additional reinforcement inside the soil bed further reduced the liquefaction, and the pore water pressure reduced considerably.