Time and again earthquake-induced damage occurs worldwide as a result of soil liquefaction, especially in loose sands with high groundwater levels. One of the most common types of damage caused by liquefaction results from vertical soil deformations, in other words settlements. This article contributes to the determination of earthquake-related settlements in dry and saturated sands using two-dimensional finite element analyses (2D-FEA) and semi-empirical methods. The comparison of the results obtained from both methods showed that the 2D-FEA give relatively low settlement values compared to the values obtained from the semi-empirical methods. This is mainly explained by the relatively large horizontal earthquake accelerations resulting from the one-dimensional, equivalent-linear dynamic analyses and by the accumulation of earthquake waves at the upper edges of the numerical models.

Purpose: The study aims to investigate the behavior of buried steel pipelines in different layouts under the influence of various permanent ground movements that may occur as a result of earthquakes. In addition, different factors such as pipe diameter, pipe material properties, burial depth, and lateral earth pressure were varied to form 8 different analysis groups to determine their effects on the performance of pipelines. The results will contribute to the practical design and preliminary evaluation of the pipelines by the operating institutions. Theory and Methods: The effects of 10 different axial ground motion lengths, 9 different ground displacements, 8 different pipe layout models and 16 different variables (e.g. burial depth) were evaluated by finite element analyses. In order to observe the interdependent effects of the changes, analyzes were carried out by considering over ten thousand combinations. Results: The effects of the length of the PGD zone and the amount of displacement on pipeline behavior are assessed relative to boundaries (Fig. A) for different pipeline layouts. Moreover, the effects of the investigated variables on pipe stress and strain are explained one by one in the study. Conclusion: The effect of variables such as burial depth and pipe material properties on the analysis results varies depending on pipeline layouts and other parameters such as displaced ground block length and displacement amounts. Contributions of all these factors on pipeline performance are explained in detail to provide guidelines for the design and preliminary evaluation of the pipelines by institutions which operates the systems.

Belled piles are increasingly being employed for transmission tower foundations in the mountainous regions of Western China, but their uplift behavior is not fully understood. This paper presents experimental investigations of the pull-out behavior of belled piles in horizontal and inclined ground (overlying soil and underlying soft rock). 3D non-linear finite element analyses related to the model tests were also conducted using ABAQUS software, and the influence of slope effect on the ultimate uplift capacity of rock-socketed belled piles was evaluated. The results demonstrated that the inclined ground led to deterioration in its uplift performance, thus increasing both the displacement of the pile cap and ground surface. When the slope angle changes between 0 degrees and 30 degrees, the weakening effect of the slope on the ultimate uplift capacity increases linearly. When the slope angle is increased to 45 degrees, the weakening effect of the slope on the ultimate uplift capacity is greatly enhanced, and the relationship between the ultimate uplift capacity of belled piles in the inclined ground and the slope angle is proposed. Moreover, the failure mode of the horizontal bedrock is an inverted cone with a failure angle between 0.8 and 1.0 phi r (phi r is the internal friction angle of bedrock). In contrast, the bedrock failure of inclined ground is bulb-shaped, and it mainly occurs within 4d (d represents pile diameter) of the downslope side. It was also discovered that the downslope side of the belled pile in the sloped ground generated cracks that directed to the pile axis if the pile top load reached 82.3% of the ultimate uplift capacity. These findings are valuable for practicing engineers in the rational design of belled piles, taking account of the weakening effect of inclined ground. Reveal the adverse effect of inclined ground on the uplift bearing deformation characteristics of the belled pile.It is clarified that the failure mode of rock-socketed belled piles in inclined ground varies with the slope angle through model test and 3D numerical method.Propose an empirical relationship to quantify the ultimate uplift capacity of rock-socketed belled piles in inclined ground and the slope angle.