Assessment of Liquefaction Potential of Ash Ponds in Indian Regions Incorporating Different Seismic Conditions

Abstract In India, coal ash is produced in quantities of over 70 million tons per year by NTPC plants with a global coal reserve of 8%. This coal ash will be held in ash ponds, which will be closed out when their capacity is reached. It can be decided whether to use the current ash pond or leave it unaltered based on the physical attributes and seismic characterization of the pond. Therefore, the characterization of coal ash ponds situated at NTPC Korba, Ramagundam, Singrauli, Sipat, and VTPS Vijayawada is presented in this research by considering shear wave velocity and penetration number. The seismic characterization of these sites is carried out in Deep-Soil employing equivalent linear analysis by considering the moment magnitude of four different earthquakes (Bhuj, Chamoli, India-Burma, and Kobe) through which peak surface accelerations and maximum strains are inferred. With the magnitudes of factor of safety and acceleration, respectively, it is determined that the ash ponds examined in this research are susceptible to liquefaction. The results of the Mercalli scale are compared to show the potentiality of vibrations induced by the earthquakes evaluated in this study. The ranges of accelerations determined from the final analysis show that the Kobe earthquake produced moderate to heavy damage while inflicting severe perceived shaking.