Practical Considerations in the Use of Liquefaction Susceptibility Criteria

Several criteria are available in practice to assess the liquefaction susceptibility of soils. Examples are the so-called Chinese Criteria and more recent criteria, such as Andrews and Martin (2000), Seed et al. (2003), Bray and Sancio (2006), and Boulanger and Idriss (2006). Many of these criteria utilize different soil indices, behavioral states, and limiting values, which make the use of the various criteria in practice confusing at times. The purpose of this paper is to provide practical considerations in the use of three of the most recent and commonly used liquefaction susceptibility criteria Seed et al. 2003, Bray and Sancio 2006, and Boulanger and Idriss 2006 by addressing three questions often asked in practice: (1) What soils can liquefaction susceptibility criteria be used? (2) What information is provided by liquefaction susceptibility criteria? (3) What is the best use of liquefaction susceptibility criteria?