Abstract: The flat dilatometer test (DMT) has the potential to be a useful tool in the evaluation of liquefaction potential of soils. In practice, it is necessary to carefully examine existing DMT-based methods for evaluating liquefaction potential. We conducted the DMT and cone penetration test (CPT) in high liquefaction potential areas to examine the existing DMT-based methods for liquefaction potential evaluation. Specifically, the DMT and CPT were conducted side-by-side at each of six in-situ sites, and thus it is feasible to utilize those test results to validate the existing DMT-based methods. The DMT parameter, horizontal stress index (K_D), is used as an indicator for estimating liquefaction resistance of soils in terms of cyclic resistance ratio (CRR). The analysis results revealed that the existing K_D-based liquefaction evaluation methods would overestimate the CRR of soils, which leads to overestimation of the factor of safety against liquefaction. Also, the estimations of DMT-K_D values by using the CPT-q_c as well as the correlation between DMT-K_D and CPT-q_c proposed by the previous studies would be significantly smaller than field measurements. The results reflected that further validation of the existing DMT-based methods for liquefaction evaluation is desirable.

Key words: Liquefaction, Flat dilatometer test (DMT), Horizontal stress index, Earthquake

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