Correlation Between Shear Wave Velocity (Vs) and SPT Resistance (N) for Roorkee Region

Abstract

For ground improvement, assessment of damage during an earthquake is very important issue which in turn depends on the ground motion. The characteristics of an earthquake motion at a site depend on the shear wave velocity (Vs). The shear wave velocity profile at a site may not be readily available however, the numbers of blows (N) from standard penetration test (SPT) are readily available. This paper presents a development of reliable correlation between Vs measured by multi channel analysis of surface wave tests and N measured using SPT at various sites in Roorkee region. These tests have been carried out at ten different sites in Roorkee region (within a radius of 30 km). The SPT samples are tested in the laboratory for index properties. Roorkee is situated in high seismic zone, therefore the study is important for this region. Based on the statistical assessments, an empirical correlation between Vs and N was developed. This is done separately for all types of soils, sands only and clays only. The developed relations fall within the range of other relations developed worldwide for other sites. A comparison with available relations is also presented. The proposed relations will be helpful in seismic microzonation of the region as ground motion is one of the important parameters. © 2016, Springer International Publishing Switzerland.