Seismic cone penetration test for evaluating liquefaction potential under cyclic loading

Impressive progress has been made in the last 25 years in recognizing liquefaction hazards, understanding liquefaction phenomena, and analyzing and evaluating the potential for liquefaction at a site. Recent findings related to the application of the seismic cone penetration test (SCPT) for the evaluation of liquefaction potential under cyclic loading are presented and discussed. The SCPT provides independent measurements of penetration resistance, pore pressures, and shear-wave velocity in a fast, continuous, and economic manner. The current methods available for evaluating liquefaction using penetration resistance are presented and discussed. Recent developments in the application of shear-wave velocity to evaluate liquefaction potential are discussed, and a new method based on normalized shear-wave velocity is proposed. Limited case-history data are used to evaluate and support the proposed correlation. A worked example is presented to illustrate the potential usefulness of the SCPT for evaluating liquefaction potential at a site. Key words : liquefaction, in situ tests, seismic.