Uni-axial liquefaction wave in saturated sands

A compaction theory is applied to description of stress wave propagation through saturated sands, including such associated phenomena as pore pressure generation and liquefaction. Numerical examples show that liquefaction is possible during either loading or unloading, depending on the magnitude of applied stress and mechanical properties of saturated sand. It is shown that the stress wave propagates without change of shapes but produces regrouping of the intrinsic stresses in matrix and fluid, i.e. generating excess pore pressure and reducing mean effective pressure, which leads to liquefaction. Those effects are caused by permanent porosity changes due to rearrangement of the granular structure of the sand, and pore water compressibility.