Employing a variable permeability model in numerical simulation of saturated sand behavior under earthquake loading

Despite advances in the numerical analysis of saturated sand behavior under earthquake loading, accurate prediction of liquefaction-related phenomena by numerical simulation remains a challenge. Variation of the coefficient of permeability is a key issue which has not obtained due attention in most previous modeling. In this study, a revised form of a recently proposed variable permeability function was implemented in a fully coupled dynamic model adopting modern two-surface plasticity constitutive law to evaluate the effects of permeability variations on the results of numerical modeling. The variable permeability model is comprised of a simple function relating the permeability coefficient of soil mass to the excess pore water ratio. In this study, the constants of the variable permeability function were attained based mainly on theoretical evidence and experimental observation. Well-documented centrifuge experiments were examined to evaluate how well the proposed model captures the main features of soil response to earthquake loading. The results indicate that the proposed function greatly enhanced the capability of numerical modeling to predict the behavior of saturated sand under cyclic loading. Particularly, the variable permeability model with proposed constants significantly improved the amount of liquefaction-induced settlement predicted by numerical modeling.