Simulation of the Seismic Response of a Man-Made Well-Graded Gravel as Recorded by a Vertical Instrumented Array

The assessment of the seismic performance of geo-structures via numerical modeling is crucial for ensuring their safety and serviceability. While the capability of numerical models to predict liquefaction in uniform clean sands has been widely studied, less attention has been given to reproducing the behavior of well-graded gravels using recorded seismic events. To this aim, this study simulates the dynamic behavior of a well-graded gravelly soil instrumented in the vertical array of Port Island, Japan, in response to the 1995 Kobe earthquake, utilizing both total and effective stress analyses according to both fully coupled and loosely coupled approaches. The calibration of the models is based on the results of site investigations, with a focus on laboratory tests collected in previous studies. The comparison between simulated and observed soil response contributes to improving the reproducibility of the nonlinear behavior of man-made gravelly soils, with potential implications for the design and verification of geo-structures.