Application of the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for prediction of soil liquefaction

The determination of liquefaction potential of soils induced by earthquake is a major concern and an essential criterion in the design process of the civil engineering structures. A purely empirical interpretation of the filed case histories relating to liquefaction potential is often not well constrained due to the complication associated with this problem. In this study, an integrated fuzzy neural network model, called Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), is developed for the assessment of liquefaction potential. The model is trained with large databases of liquefaction case histories. Nine parameters such as earthquake magnitude, the water table, the total vertical stress, the effective vertical stress, the depth, the peak acceleration at the ground surface, the cyclic stress ratio, the mean grain size, and the measured cone penetration test tip resistance were used as input parameters. The results revealed that the ANFIS model is a fairly promising approach for the prediction of the soil liquefaction potential and capable of representing the complex relationship between seismic properties of soils and their liquefaction potential.