Modelling liquefaction phenomena during the May 2012 Emilia-Romagna (Italy) earthquake

摘要

In May 2012, an earthquake sequence took place in the eastern part of the Po river plain (Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy), causing human losses and significant damages to infrastructures and buildings. Extensive surface cracks were also observed in a number of riverbanks located close to the earthquake epicenter. This paper focuses on the analysis of the seismic response of an irrigation canal riverbank (the Canale Diversivo di Burana), using the FE computational interface OpenSeesPL in conjunction with an advanced constitutive formulation for granular soils. Taking the available experimental database as a reference, the numerical study provides an attempt of identifying the mechanisms which caused the large, longitudinally-oriented ground crack system observed on the bank crest.