Centrifuge and Numerical Modeling of an Embankment on Liquefiable Soils Treated with Dense Granular Columns

Abstract

Dense granular columns (DGC) have become a common soil improvement strategy for embankment structures founded on liquefiable deposits. However, the state-of-practice for the design of DGCs is still limited to simplified methods where the influence of key mitigation mechanisms on the likelihood of triggering is considered in a decoupled manner. Further, the effects of soil-column-embankment interaction, performance, site characteristics, layer-to-layer interaction, and ground motion’s evolutionary characteristics are not included in current engineering design procedures. In this work, we present preliminary results from a numerical parametric study, previously validated against centrifuge tests, to help evaluate the seismic performance of embankments on liquefiable deposits treated with DGCs. We focus on engineering demand parameters that control the embankment design and performance. These analyses are intended to help identify the key predictors of the embankment’s seismic response and the underlying trends. These results set the stage for the development of future design procedures for DGCs near embankment structures.