Numerical assessment of liquefaction mitigation effects on residential houses: Case histories of the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-offshore earthquake

In this study, the effectiveness of liquefaction countermeasures for residential houses was explored using a fully coupled dynamic effective-stress finite element procedure. Numerical analyses were conducted on two wooden houses that were damaged to different degrees due to dune liquefaction during the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu-offshore earthquake. House A, which was only improved by horizontal drainage pipes to lower the ground water level, was completely destroyed; however, house B, which was improved by a horizontal drainage system, soil-cement mixtures, and steel-pipe piles, was slightly deformed. Numerical results show that the effects of the sand dune slope on the damage to the two houses were somewhat different. For house B, it was found that the steel-pipe piles were more effective. Two countermeasures generally led to a greater degree of reduction in both lateral and vertical displacements of house B than only a single countermeasure employed. In addition, the combined implementation of steel-pipe piles and soil-cement mixtures was the most effective among the cases with two countermeasures.