Liquefaction Potential Index: Field Assessment

Cone penetration test (CPT) soundings at historic liquefaction sites in California were used to evaluate the predictive capability of the liquefaction potential index (LPI), which was defined by Iwasaki et al. in 1978. LPI combines depth, thickness, and factor of safety of liquefiable material infer...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering Vol. 129; no. 4; pp. 315 - 322
Main Authors Toprak, Selcuk, Holzer, Thomas L
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, NY American Society of Civil Engineers 01.04.2003
Subjects
Applied sciences
Buildings. Public works
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Engineering geology
Exact sciences and technology
Geotechnics
Soil investigations. Testing
Soil mechanics. Rocks mechanics
TECHNICAL PAPERS
California
United States
North America
America
Occurrence frequency
Liquefaction
Earthquakes
Prediction
Penetration test
Probability distribution
California
Risk analysis
Soil mechanics
Field study
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Summary:Cone penetration test (CPT) soundings at historic liquefaction sites in California were used to evaluate the predictive capability of the liquefaction potential index (LPI), which was defined by Iwasaki et al. in 1978. LPI combines depth, thickness, and factor of safety of liquefiable material inferred from a CPT sounding into a single parameter. LPI data from the Monterey Bay region indicate that the probability of surface manifestations of liquefaction is 58 and 93%, respectively, when LPI equals or exceeds 5 and 15. LPI values also generally correlate with surface effects of liquefaction: Decreasing from a median of 12 for soundings in lateral spreads to 0 for soundings where no surface effects were reported. The index is particularly promising for probabilistic liquefaction hazard mapping where it may be a useful parameter for characterizing the liquefaction potential of geologic units.
ISSN:1090-0241
1943-5606
DOI:10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0241(2003)129:4(315)