A prediction model for residual shear strength of liquefiable soil based on lateral spreading cases

The residual shear strength of liquefiable soil plays an important role in evaluating the displacement magnitude of lateral spreading when applying the Newmark sliding block method. Currently, the empirical model is a mainstream alternative method for estimating the residual shear strength. In this study, a database of well-documented lateral spreading cases is used to establish an exponential function for residual shear strength evaluation correlated with the vertical effective stress and normalized standard penetration test blow counts for liquefied soil. A comparative analysis with two other empirical models is conducted, and the lateral spreading of the Wildlife Site during the Superstition Hills earthquake in 1987 is estimated using the Newmark sliding block method. The model exhibits good performance for soil residual shear strength estimation in cases of liquefaction-induced lateral spreading. The average estimated value of the residual shear strength may be appropriate for deterministic analyses in engineering practice.