A comparative study of liquefaction simulations with two cyclic constitutive models

Taiwan is located at the junction of the Philippine Sea Plate and the Eurasia Plate, where earthquakes occur frequently. Soil liquefaction has often been observed during an earthquake, and the associated settlement and lateral spreading usually lead to structural damage and property loss. In this study, numerical analyses were carried out to mimic a dynamic centrifuge model test and examine liquefaction behavior due to seismic shaking. The numerical simulations were performed using two cyclic constitutive models. The constitutive modes were first calibrated against laboratory element test results. A comparison was made to evaluate the effectiveness of these two models used in the finite element analyses.