Modelling the Seismic Responses of a Shallow Tunnel in Liquefiable Soil

Abstract

Underground structures might experience a sequence of multiple shakings in a real seismic event, since earthquakes could contain more than one strong shaking during a short period of time. The soil-structure interaction (SSI) is very much dependent on the characteristics of the shakings, because typically the behavior of the surrounding soil is stress-path dependent. In this paper, the special case of a shallow tunnel in liquefiable ground subject to multiple shakings is considered via numerical method. The OpenSees platform and the PM4Sand constitutive model are employed for the numerical modelling, where a rectangular tunnel is buried in saturated Hostun sand. The validity of the numerical model is verified by the data of a centrifuge test of four consecutive shakings. Then, the numerical soil-structure system is configured for further investigation on the subject matter, and the signature seismic response of shallow tunnel in liquefied ground, namely, the uplift, is most intensely discussed.