Abstract
Undrained cyclic triaxial tests were conducted using various sands under different confining pressures, to establish a relation between liquefaction resistance and shear wave velocity or elastic shear modulus. The test results together with those of previous studies indicate that the correlation depends on such factors as soil type and confining pressure. Elastic shear modulus is normalized with respect to minimum void ratio and confining pressure, and the test results are re-examined with this value. The normalized shear modulus has a good correlation with liquefaction resistance, irrespective of soil type and confining pressure. Based on the above findings, a simplified method is presented for estimating liquefaction resistance from shear wave velocity. A comparison with field observations during past earthquakes supports the effectiveness of the proposed method.
