Feasibility study of fault rupture deviation by slurry wall

During past earthquakes, many instances of building damage as a result of earthquake surface fault rupture have been observed. The results of investigating a potential mitigation scheme are presented in this paper. Such plan provides a wall in the soil with the aim of surface displacement localization in the narrow pre-determined location. This may reduce the risk of the future rupture downstream the wall. To evaluate the efficiency of the method, this paper (i) provides validation through successful class “A” predictions of 1g model tests for fault deviation by weak wall; and (ii) conducts sensitivity analyses on fault position, fault offset and wall shear strength. It is shown that wall can be designed to deviate rupture path; even downstream of the wall can be protected.