Abstract
A method is proposed to utilize vertical walls that surround a buried structure for mitigating damage due to complete liquefaction of the soil both inside and outside the walls. A method of static analysis is presented for the design of the structure and the walls based on two simplified models that are expected to provide upper limits of the forces on and displacements of the structural elements. The first model in which the walls are assumed to be fixed to the structure and are perfectly flexible and inextensible permits the determination of the upper limits of the uplift pressure on the bottom of the structure and the tensile force in the walls. The second model for which a frictionless boundary is assumed between the structure and the walls permits the determination of the upper limits of flexural stresses in the walls and the upward displacement of the structure. The second model is expected to offer a less costly alternative than the first model where the width of the structure and/or the depth to the bottom of the structure are large.
