Parameter study on factors influencing wave-induced liquefaction
Parameter study on factors influencing wave-induced liquefaction
Wave-induced liquefaction, whereby the behaviour of soil changes from solid-like to fluid-like, can lead to sediment movement, destabilisation of bank protection measures or washout of submarine pipelines, due to the loss of soils load-bearing capacity. This process is influenced by various parameters, such as the permeability of the soil and the degree of saturation. Before conducting a numerical simulation, the different input parameters must be determined. It is good practice to investigate how much the uncertainty of these input parameters influences the results of the numerical simulation. This paper presents a parameter study analysing the extent of the dependency between the uncertainty of the input parameters and the numerical result. Hydraulic conductivity, stiffness, degree of saturation and porosity were chosen as the parameters to be analysed, and the results were compared in terms of liquefaction depth.
The setup is based on a soil column experiment in combination with an alternating flow apparatus that replicated a liquefaction event caused by a linear pressure drawdown. Prior to the parameter study, good agreement is demonstrated between the numerical simulation and the experimental analysis. Simulations are based on a total Lagrangian formulation.
Hannah Keese; Julia Rothschink; Oliver Stelzer; Thomas Nagel
11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)
Special Session 5: Combination of numerical and physical modelling
https://doi.org/10.53243/ICPMG2026-121