Assessment of liquefaction potential of sand distributed in the coastal area of Ninh Thuan based on SPT values

The liquefaction potential of sandy soil has been widely investigated in the world for many years, especially after the Niigata and Alaska earthquakes in 1964. In which, the SPT values were mostly used for the evaluation of liquefaction potential. In Vietnam, the potential for soil liquefaction has been recently investigated. In the coastal area of Ninh Thuan province, the sand is widely distributed and often exposed on the surface. Additionally, many wind power farms have been built in this area. Thus, it is necessary to evaluate the liquefaction potential of sand distributed in this area. In this study, the potential for sand liquefaction in the coastal area of Ninh Thuan will be evaluated based on SPT values. Two common methods for evaluation of liquefaction potential proposed by Seed and Idriss; Idriss and Boulanger were employed. The research results show that at peak ground acceleration (amax) = 0.07 g and M = 5.5, the sand in the study area is non-liquefiable (safety factor against liquefaction, FS ( 1.48). However, at amax = 0.18 g and M = 7.5, the FS varies from 0.78 to 3.66 for the Seed and Idriss method and from 0.68 to 2.05 for the Idriss and Boulanger method. In general, the FS obtained from the Seed and Idriss method is higher than that obtained from Idriss and Boulanger method. Nevertheless, this insignificantly affects the overall assessment of liquefaction potential. At amax = 0.18 g and M = 7.5, the sand distributed in the study area can be liquefied at a depth of 17 m. However, it is not liquefied when the Nspt is higher than 28 ((N1) 60cs > 20).

How to Cite

Nguyen, D.Thanh, Nguyen, S.Tan, Pham, H.Ngoc Thi and Phung, H.Huu 2024. Assessment of liquefaction potential of sand distributed in the coastal area of Ninh Thuan based on SPT values. Journal of Mining and Earth Sciences. 65, 4 (Aug, 2024), 9-18. DOI:https://doi.org/10.46326/JMES.2024.65(4).02.

References

Bishop, A. W. (1965). Triaxial tests on soil at elevated cell pressures. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering (Vol. 2, pp. 170-174).

Bolton Seed, H., Tokimatsu, K., Harder, L. F., and Chung, R. M. (1985). Influence of SPT procedures in soil liquefaction resistance evaluations. Journal of geotechnical engineering, 111(12), 1425-1445.

Bui, V.B., Le, T.T. (2014). Study on liquefaction potential of Thai Binh Formation sand (aQ23tb1) in Hanoi under dynamic load. Proc. of the 21st Science Conference, University of Mining and Geology, 236-245 (in Vietnamese).

Bui, V.B., Nguyen, D.N., Nguyen, D.T., Phung, H.H., Nguyen, V.H. (2016). The effect of frequency and effective consolidation stress on liquefaction potential of alluvial sand of Thai Binh Formation (aQ2-3 tb) in the cyclic triaxial experiment. J. Min. Earth Sci. 56, 31–37.

Bui, V.B., Phung, H. H., Nguyen, T. D., Nguyen, V.H., (2014). Studying the influence of frequency and confine pressure on the liquefaction potential of the Thai Binh Formation sand (aQ23tb1) by cyclic experiment. Proc. of the 21st Scientific Conference of Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, 246-252 (in Vietnamese).

Cetin, K. O., Seed, R. B., Der Kiureghian, A., Tokimatsu, K., Harder Jr, L. F., Kayen, R. E., and Moss, R. E. (2004). Standard penetration test-based probabilistic and deterministic assessment of seismic soil liquefaction potential. Journal of geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering, 130(12), 1314-1340.

Dobry, R., Ladd, R. S., Yokel, F. Y., Chung, R. M., and Powell, D. (1982). Prediction of pore water pressure buildup and liquefaction of sands during earthquakes by the cyclic strain method (Vol. 138, p. 150). Gaithersburg, MD: National Bureau of Standards.

Florin, V. A. (1961). Liquefaction of saturated sandy soils. In Proc. of the 5th international conference on soil mechanics and foudation engineering (Vol. 1, pp. 107-111).

https://vietnamnet.vn/vn/khoa-hoc/van-de-an-toan-dia-diem-nmdhn-ninh-thuan-204103.html, n.d.

Idriss, I. M., and Boulanger, R. W. (2006). Semi-empirical procedures for evaluating liquefaction potential during earthquakes. Soil dynamics and earthquake engineering, 26(2-4), 115-130.

Iwasaki, T., Arakawa, T., and Tokida, K. I. (1984). Simplified procedures for assessing soil liquefaction during earthquakes. International Journal of Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, 3(1), 49-58.

Lentini, V., and Castelli, F. (2019). Liquefaction resistance of sandy soils from undrained cyclic triaxial tests. Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, 37(1), 201-216.

Linkimer, L. (2008). Relationship between peak ground acceleration and modified Mercalli intensity in Costa Rica. Revista Geológica de América Central, (38), 81-94.

Longbir, S., and Arjun, S. (2019). Assessment of liquefaction potential of Guwahati city based on geotechnical standard penetration test (SPT) data.

Nam Mien Trung Ltd. Co. (2020). Geotechnical investigation reports of Adani, BIM, 7A wind power plants, Ninh Thuan (in Vietnamese).

Nguyen, L.N. (2008). Earthquake and earthquake resistant construction design. Publishing House Construction (in Vietnamese).

Nguyen, T. D., Le, T. T. (2014). Study on the influence of fine grain content on the liquefaction potential of sand. Proc. of the 21st Scientific Conference of Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, 270-275 (in Vietnamese).

Nguyen, T.N., Bui, T.S. (2020). The coefficients to evaluate the liquefaction potential of sand determined from SPT test results. Apply to sandy soil in Quang Tri area. Proc. of National Conference on Earth Sciences and Natural Resources for Sustainable Development (ERSD, 2020) 70–77 (in Vietnamese).

	Citations	834
	h-index	10
	i10-index	10

Abstracting & Indexing