Site Response Analysis and Liquefaction Hazard Evaluation at the Catania Harbour (Italy)

In this paper some information concerning the geotechnical characterisation of the “Acquicella Porto” zone in the Catania harbour have been presented. The harbour of the city of Catania, located on the eastern zone of Sicily, is an area subjected to high seismic hazard. In situ investigations of sandy harbour soil were carried out in order to determine the soil profile and the geotechnical characteristics for the site under consideration, with special attention for the variation of shear modulus and damping with depth. Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests (SDMT) have been carried out, with the aim to evaluate the soil profile of shear wave velocity (Vs). Moreover the following investigations in the laboratory were carried out on undisturbed samples: Resonant Column tests; Direct shear tests; Triaxial tests. The available data obtained from the Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Tests results enabled to evaluate the shear modulus profile. In addition, using some synthetic seismograms of historical scenario earthquakes at the bedrock, the ground response analysis at the surface, in terms of time history and response spectra, has been performed by 1-D linear equivalent codes. The results of the site response analysis have been also used for the evaluation of liquefaction hazard of the investigated area. This paper presents a KD-CRR corrected relation for sandy soils potential liquefaction evaluation under cyclic loading, on the basis of previous tentative KD-CRR curves proposed