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Correlations Between Shear Wave Velocity and In-Situ Penetration Test Results for Korean Soil Deposits

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Abstract

Shear wave velocity (V S) can be obtained using seismic tests, and is viewed as a fundamental geotechnical characteristic for seismic design and seismic performance evaluation in the field of earthquake engineering. To apply conventional geotechnical site investigation techniques to geotechnical earthquake engineering, standard penetration tests (SPT) and piezocone penetration tests (CPTu) were undertaken together with a variety of borehole seismic tests for a range of sites in Korea. Statistical modeling of the in-situ testing data identified correlations between V S and geotechnical in-situ penetration data, such as blow counts (N value) from SPT and CPTu data including tip resistance (q t), sleeve friction (f s), and pore pressure ratio (B q). Despite the difference in strain levels between conventional geotechnical penetration tests and borehole seismic tests, it is shown that the suggested correlations in this study is applicable to the preliminary determination of V S for soil deposits.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to express their deepest gratitude for the support from the Basic Research Project of the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM). We thank the anonymous reviewers for giving their thoughtful opinions to help us revise and improve this paper.

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  1. Earthquake Research Center, Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, 124 Gwahang-no, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-350, Korea

    Chang-Guk Sun, Chang-Soo Cho, Minkyung Son & Jin Soo Shin

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  1. Chang-Guk Sun
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  2. Chang-Soo Cho
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  3. Minkyung Son
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Correspondence to Chang-Soo Cho.

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Sun, CG., Cho, CS., Son, M. et al. Correlations Between Shear Wave Velocity and In-Situ Penetration Test Results for Korean Soil Deposits. Pure Appl. Geophys. 170, 271–281 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-012-0516-2

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