Liquefaction Risk Assessment: Evaluation of Three Statistical Models

Abstract

One approach to liquefaction risk assessment is based on a comparison of the earthquake and soil parameters for the site under study to those known to have either caused or not caused liquefaction at other sites during earlier earthquakes. In this study, three statistical models for liquefaction risk assessment are evaluated and compared. Both linear and nonlinear discriminant analyses are performed on the same set of historical data. It is found that the model with an energy-based formulation for the development of pore water pressure results in the least number of misclassified cases of liquefaction and nonliquefaction. The main conclusion derived from this study is that the use of an integral measure of seismic action, viz., dissipated energy, may result in a better assessment of liquefaction risk.