Abstract: The liquefaction in earthquakes will cause the inclination of the buildings and lead to their loss of functions. No numerical methods, however, can simulate the behavior of the phenomena at present. To search for the key points in the potential numerical method of calculating the building inclination due to soil liquefaction, the simple shaking table test is conducted and the relationship of the inputting waves, the vertical dynamic stresses, the pore water pressures and the building settlements are investigated in the paper. The results indicate: (1) The pore water pressure model used in the potential method must be suitable for simulating the process of water pressure rising during the irregular loads and can exactly calculate the difference of the pore water pressures under the incident loads with same peak amplitude but different forms; (2) The pore water pressure model should be able to disrcribe the pore water pressure variation due to the anisotropic property of soil and can distingush the difference of the water pressures due to the compression and extension stresses; (3) The pore water pressure model should be able to calculate the effect of the consolidation ratios on the pore water pressure variation and can attain the actual process of water pressure for the soil below the buildings; (4) The potential method should be able to follow the tracks of the deformation process of the soil layers with the increase in the pore water pressure.

Key words: liquefaction, building, inclination, key points of calculation method