Numerical Modelling of Dynamic Soil Liquefaction in Sloping Ground

In sloping ground, before application of dynamic loading, the ground is subjected to a static shear stress due to the weight of the soil and the slope of the ground. Static shear stresses will act as driving forces and cause very large ground deformations even before the onset of soil liquefaction. Therefore reliable prediction of soil response is essential in the assessment of remediation methods to reduce liquefaction induced soil deformation. This paper investigates the application of a stress path model to simulate the soil liquefaction in sloping ground. Pore pressure generation and liquefaction strength of the soil predicted by the numerical model are compared with a series of simple shear tests performed on loose sand with and without an initial static shear stress simulating sloping and level ground conditions, respectively. Numerical predictions are shown to be in good agreement with test data.