A system identification technique for the estimation of the bulk modulus based on pore water pressure dissipation records

Abstract

This article introduces a novel system identification technique for determining the bulk modulus of cohesionless soils in the post-liquefaction dissipation stage following seismic excitation. The proposed method employs a discretization of Biot's theory for porous media using the finite difference method. The technique was validated using synthetic data from finite elements simulations of an excited soil deposit. These numerical simulations were performed using an advanced multi-yield surface elastoplastic model. Additionally, the technique was used to analyze a series of high-quality dynamic centrifuge tests performed on Ottawa F-65 sand as part of the LEAP-2020 project. A comparative analysis between recorded and identified bulk modulus values highlights the effectiveness of the proposed technique across a wide range of conditions.