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Engineering Geology
j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w. e l s ev i e r. c o m / l o c a t e / e n g g e o
Empirical correlations of shear wave velocity (Vs) and penetration resistance (SPT-N)
for different soils in an earthquake-prone area (Erbaa-Turkey)
Muge K. Akin a,⁎, Steven L. Kramer b, Tamer Topal c
a
Dept. of Geological Engineering, Yuzuncu Yıl University, Van, Turkey
b
Dept.of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
c
Dept. of Geological Engineering, Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: The seismicity of the northern part of Turkey is mainly controlled by the North Anatolian Fault zone (NAFZ).
Received 17 August 2010 The NAFZ is one of the world's most active seismic zones, and has produced destructive earthquakes and
Received in revised form 17 January 2011 related hazards in the northern region of Turkey. Several earthquakes and earthquake-related hazards have
Accepted 24 January 2011
occurred along different segments of this fault zone in the recent past. The study area, Erbaa town, is located
Available online 2 February 2011
along the eastern segment of North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) and is one of the largest towns of Tokat
Keywords:
Province in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey. The center of Erbaa is located on the left embankment of
SPT-based uphole the Kelkit River. After the disastrous 1942 (Ms = 7.2) and 1943 (Ms = 7.6) earthquakes, the settlement was
Shear wave velocity shifted southwards.
SPT-N As a part of a seismic microzonation study of the Erbaa area, shear wave velocity (Vs) values of the geological
Erbaa units exposed in this area were required for site response analyses. The geological units in the study area
Turkey consist mainly of alluvial and Pliocene units. These layers were evaluated on the basis of drilling, in-situ (SPT,
SCPTU and SPT-based uphole) and laboratory testing. In this study, empirical correlations between shear
wave velocity (Vs) and standard penetration test blow counts (SPT-N) were considered in order to define
shear wave velocity profiles for the study area. The relationships between shear wave velocity, Standard
Penetration Test (SPT) blow-counts and the soil properties were evaluated as functions of depth. SPT-based
uphole tests were performed to measure shear wave velocity during drilling operations in some of the
borings. The SPT-based Vs values were computed with different empirical formulas and compared with the
measured SPT–based uphole Vs measurements. The empirical correlations were found to require modification
to provide the best correlation for this site. The depth factor was considered during the development of new
empirical equations. Therefore, a site-specific formula was proposed in order to obtain Vs profiles for all layers
in the study area.
© 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction region was shifted to the hilly region south of the Kelkit River.
Substantial development remained on the alluvial deposits near the
Turkey is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in the world. river, however, and rapid increase in population has led to pressure to
The seismicity of the northern part of Turkey is mainly controlled by expand the developed areas back toward the Kelkit River. The
the active North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ). The NAFZ is one of the locations of the new and old settlements are depicted in Fig. 1.
main active seismic zones, and has caused numerous destructive As a part of a microzonation study for the Erbaa area, shear wave
earthquakes and related hazards in the northern region of Turkey. The velocity (Vs) values of the geological units exposed in this area are
settlement of Erbaa (population approximately 100,000), located required for site response analyses. The shear wave velocity is a
along the eastern segment of the NAFZ, is one of the largest towns of fundamental parameter required to define the dynamic properties of
Tokat Province in the Middle Black Sea Region of Turkey. It is located soils. It is useful in the evaluation of foundation stiffness, earthquake
in a critical area in terms of the construction and development site response, liquefaction potential, soil density, site classification,
aspects. The city center of Erbaa is located on the left embankment of soil stratigraphy and foundation settlements (Richart et al., 1970;
the Kelkit River. After the disastrous 1942 (Ms = 7.2) and 1943 Seed and Idriss, 1970; Schnabel et al., 1972; Sykora and Stokoe, 1983;
(Ms = 7.6) earthquakes, most subsequent development in the Erbaa Burland, 1989; Sasitharan et al., 1994; Shibuya et al., 1995; Kramer,
1996; Andrus and Stokoe, 1997; Wills and Silva, 1998; Mayne et al.,
1999; Dobry et al., 2000; Lehane and Fahey, 2002; Seed et al., 2003;
⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: + 90 312 210 57 50. Stewart et al., 2003; McGillivray and Mayne, 2004; Holzer et al., 2005;
E-mail address: mugeakink@gmail.com (M.K. Akin). McGillivray, 2007).
0013-7952/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.enggeo.2011.01.007
2 M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17
Shear wave velocities of soil profiles are most accurately modulus can be computed from shear wave velocity and mass density
determined using in-situ seismic measurements. Because in-situ (ρ) using the following expression:
measurements involve very low strain levels, the measured shear
wave velocity can be used to obtain the maximum shear modulus
2
(Gmax) at a particular depth in a soil deposit. The maximum shear Gmax = ρVs ð1Þ
M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17 3
Fig. 4. The general distribution of the previous and recent boreholes in the study area.
profiles in Erbaa. A new technique, referred to as the SPT-based however, no instrumental and/or historical earthquakes have been
uphole method by Bang and Kim (2007), was used to measure the mentioned in the study of Barka et al. (2000) related to this fault.
shear wave velocities. Measured Vs values from SPT-based uphole and Erbaa lies within the First Degree Earthquake Zone of Turkey (http://
those implied by SPT-based empirical approaches were both obtained. www.deprem.gov.tr/indexen.html). It is one of the most important
The comparison of the measured and empirical relations was seismic areas on the NAFZ with a past seismic activity. The 1942 and
conducted to illustrate the efficiency of this new method, as well. 1943 Niksar-Erbaa earthquakes are the most destructive earthquakes for
The empirically calculated and measured shear wave velocities were the region. No seismic activity with higher magnitude has been recorded
correlated, and then new empirical site-specific formulas are since the 1942 Erbaa-Niksar earthquake in this area.
proposed for the study area. Metamorphic rocks and the limestone layers as basement rocks
can be observed with an age from Permian to Eocene in the study area
2. Geology and tectonics in a regional macro scale. These rocks are overlain by Upper Eocene
volcanics (basalt, andesite, agglomerate, and tuff) and alternating
The study area of Erbaa and its close vicinity are within a pull-apart sandstone and siltstone layers. These units are covered by Pliocene
basin formed by the tectonic activity of the NAFZ. The NAFZ is 1500- deposits consisting of semi-consolidated clay, silt, sand, and gravel
km-long, seismically active, right-lateral strike slip fault that accom- with an unconformity and a recent Quaternary alluvial unit (Aktimur
modates relative motion between the Anatolian and Black Sea Plates et al., 1992) (Fig. 2). The alluvium, which includes gravel, sand, and
(Sengor et al., 1985). Between 1939 and 1967, the NAFZ ruptured silty clay, can be observed in the basement of Kelkit river valleys and
during six large, westward-propagating earthquakes with magnitudes in the northern part of the Erbaa basin. The alluvial unit consists of
greater than 7, and caused approximately 900 km surface break heterogeneous materials, derived from various older geological units
(Allen, 1969; Ketin, 1969; Ambraseys, 1970). Erbaa is located on the in the vicinity. Their lateral and vertical extents cannot be easily
eastern part of the NAFZ. Surface ruptures of the 1939 (Ms = 8.0), traced, since they are in the form of wedges and lenses. The
1942 (Ms = 7.2) and 1943 (Ms = 7.6) earthquakes occurred in the Quaternary alluvial unit and Pliocene deposits broadly cover the
Tasova-Erbaa and Niksar basins (Barka et al., 2000). The November, study area. While the northern part of the settlement area is located
26, 1943 Tosya earthquake (Mw = 7.6) produced 280 km long surface on the alluvial unit, the Pliocene deposits dominate the southern part
rupture which could be the second longest surface faulting in that of Erbaa (Yılmaz, 1998) (Fig. 3).
sequence (Emre et al., 2006). The Tasova-Erbaa pull-apart basin is
approximately 65 km long and 15–18 km wide. The northern margin 3. In-situ tests
of the study area is surrounded by the fault segments that ruptured in
the 1942 and 1943 earthquakes (Fig. 2). The southern part is bounded A total of 104 boreholes have been drilled in the study area. Previous
by the Esencay fault, which has a different morphological expression; geotechnical investigations of the study area, which include 56 borings
M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17 5
and laboratory test results (Ankara University Project, Canik and Kayabali, penetrometer with pore water pressure (SCPTU) applications, 10 SPT-
2000; Industrial area, Akademi Ltd. Sti., 2002; and Water treatment plant, based uphole surveys, and three downhole surveys were carried out.
Metropol Muh., 2005), were evaluated in this study. The depths of these Resistivity surveys were performed at 24 points along three profiles
boreholes ranged from 10 to 20 m. SPT blow counts were taken at 1.5 m in Erbaa to differentiate geological units and the bedrock depth (Fig. 6).
depth intervals in the boreholes. A total of 48 new boreholes with Electrical soundings using the Schlumberger method (Schlumberger,
intended 30 m depths were drilled to obtain and correlate SPT-based 1920) were applied during resistivity measurements and a total of
shear wave velocity values. An intensive sampling and testing program 150 m depth was investigated. A low frequency original resistivity
was applied during the drilling. SPT tests carried out through new 48 instrument working with an alternating current was employed during
boreholes were performed at every 1 m and undisturbed samples (UD) the resistivity surveys. Seismic refraction measurements were per-
were taken at every 1 m (where possible) to obtain a continuous soil formed at 23 locations to obtain the subsurface geologic conditions in
profile as much as possible. However, some boreholes could not reach the Erbaa. A digital seismograph with 24-byte A/D resolution and 12
desired depth due to the presence of gravelly layers which caused channels was utilized in the seismic refraction surveys. Seismic
borehole collapse. The distribution of these boreholes is shown in Fig. 4. refraction surveys were carried out to a depth of 30 m along three
A total of 1390 m of drilling, including 1341 SPT and 312 UD sections to obtain shear wave velocity profile (Fig. 6). Eventually, three
samples, was performed in this study. The depth of the ground water different layers were defined with respect to seismic measurements.
level (GWL) at the study area varied between 1 and 19 m, with a few The SPT-based uphole method, which uses the impact energy of the
dry boreholes encountered in the Pliocene units. The GWL in the area split spoon sampler during the SPT test as a vibration source, was firstly
of the Pliocene units, which were generally at higher ground surface introduced by Ohta et al. (1978). Later, Bang and Kim (2007) used the
elevations, was deeper (13–19 m) than those in the alluvium. The same method by interpreting the test results. They introduced the SPT-
alluvium unit had a very shallow GWL (1–2 m) with about one-half based uphole test as a combination of low and high-strain tests. The SPT-
meter fluctuation in the dry season near the Kelkit River (Fig. 5). SPT based uphole test is a modified version of the seismic uphole method. It
blow count values from the boreholes were evaluated separately for uses a number of receivers (geophones) inserted on the ground surface
the different geological units. The alluvial units had generally low SPT to obtain the shear wave velocity profile of a site. A schematic diagram of
blow count values (N b 20) indicating a loose-medium dense the SPT-based uphole method is shown in Fig. 7.
sedimentation. Refusal SPT blow counts were mostly obtained in The testing procedure can be briefly described as follows: surface
gravelly layers of the alluvium. In addition, the Pliocene units mostly geophones are placed on the ground surface at selected distances
reveal refusal during SPT tests after 10–15 m in depth. from the boring. A minimum of two receivers are required and at least
Several geophysical tests were performed at the site to compare the five receivers are recommended since using more receivers can
characteristics of the soil layers with other field and laboratory data. provide better results. The interpretation process assumes the site to
Some 24 electrical resistivity, 23 seismic refraction, 30 seismic cone be horizontally layered. Data from the receivers close to the drill rig
6 M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17
are preferred because less refraction of their wave paths occurs. check the repeatability, signal traces from multiple hammer blows
However, the nearby receivers can be affected by vibrations from the should be compared at each testing depth. The distance from the tip of
drill rig, so it is advised to drop the hammer manually after turning off the split spoon sampler to the ground surface should be measured at
the drill rig. SPT tests are generally performed at 1 to 1.5 m intervals. each stage of testing. After drilling to the next testing depth, the same
After reaching the desired depth, the SPT-based uphole method can be steps should be repeated until the end of borehole (Kim et al., 2004;
performed simultaneously with the conventional SPT test. In order to Bang and Kim, 2007).
The SPT-based uphole method was used for the first time in Turkey geological units in the vicinity. The alluvium in the Erbaa area consists
as a part of this study. The method was applied in the newly drilled 10 of gravelly, sandy, silty, clayey layers. The alluvium has a generally
boreholes (BH 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 23, 28, 30, and 33) to obtain shear shallow groundwater level, especially in the northern part of Erbaa
wave velocity of both Pliocene and alluvial deposits. A total of seven towards the Kelkit River. Besides, the alluvial fans were observed in
geophones with 2 m spacing were placed on the nearly horizontal the small river beds do not spread over a wide area in the Erbaa basin
ground surface, and the measurements were recorded during (Fig. 3).
hammering in SPT applications. As recommended, two-component Laboratory tests indicated that the gravelly and sandy layers had
(radial and vertical) geophones were used in order to obtain better lower water contents than the silty and clayey layers in alluvium unit.
travel time information. Two recordings were conducted during SPT Moreover, the average water content of the clay layers in the Pliocene
application for every meter (Akin et al., 2010). units was lower than those in the alluvial areas. The water contents of
In this method, the shear waves are produced by SPT hammer samples varied between 1.1% and 63.9% for the alluvium, and between
impact without any additional explosives or mechanical sources. One 4% and 31.6% for the Pliocene unit. The soil classification is based on
of the typical examples of SPT-based uphole records is depicted in the Unified Soil Classification System (USCS), sandy (SM and SP-SW)
Fig. 8 for BH-10. and clayey sand (SC) layers were observed in the alluvium. The clayey
A total of 30 SCPTU measurements with varying depths were gravel (GC) unit showed plasticity similar to the clayey sand (SC).
performed in accordance with ASTM D5778-95 (2000) standards Based on Atterberg limits, the alluvial clay would be classified as low
(Fig. 9). The depths reached by the cone penetration test (CPT) apparatus plasticity clay (CL). The Pliocene gravel unit contains clay particles.
at some locations were adversely affected by gravelly layers. The depths The clayey gravel unit (GC) is low-plastic. Furthermore, the sandy
of the SCPTU applications ranged from 1 m to 11.4 m. layers are represented by clayey sand (SC) and the clayey deposits
(CL-CH) in the Pliocene unit were also generally observed.
4. Subsurface conditions for Alluvial and Pliocene soils in Erbaa The geological and geotechnical properties of the study area were
investigated in sections and an overall evaluation of the field studies
The Pliocene deposits are mainly observed towards the hills in the was performed. Five cross-sections along the study area (Fig. 10) were
southern part of the Erbaa study area. As previously described, the investigated; one of the cross-sections (IV–IV′) mentioned in Fig. 10 is
Pliocene deposits consist mainly of uncemented gravel, sand and illustrated in Fig. 11 including SPT blow counts (N30, is the number of
occasionally uncompacted sandstone layers. The groundwater level is blows for 30 cm depth in SPT) for each borehole. This cross-section
assumed to be deeper, since some of 30 m deep boreholes towards the reveals the heterogeneity of the soil layers from SE to NW of the study
hills opened during this study in this geological unit were all dry. area. Pliocene layers are exposed at topographically higher levels and
Most of the study area is covered with alluvium. The thickness of the lithology of the soil layers changes as the ground surface slopes
the alluvium in the northern part (near the Kelkit River) is generally downward towards the Kelkit River.
greater than that found in the southern part. The alluvium contains Typical gravel lenses which may produce refusal blow counts were
stratified materials of heterogeneous grain sizes, derived from various rarely seen in the typical cross-section. The boundary of the soil units,
especially in the Pliocene units, is also illustrated in the same figure. As
shown in Fig. 11, the ground water level became shallower toward the
Kelkit River.
the curves. A notable exception is the relationship of Jafari et al. (1997), geophones are evaluated. However, the two geophones closest to the
which shows an inconsistently large sensitivity of Vs to SPT resistance. drill rig were found to produce unrealistically high velocities
The relationships proposed for all Erbaa alluvial and Pliocene soils apparently caused by their proximity to the rig. Although it is advised
in this study (red dashed line in Fig. 13) are quite compatible with the to turn off the engine, it has a capability to give unrealistic results for
equations, which have similar trends, introduced by Hasançebi and the interpretations. On the other hand, the results from the more
Ulusay (2007), Imai and Tonouchi (1982), and Ohba and Toriumi distant geophones were prone to the effects of refraction-influenced
(1970). On the other hand, the Jafari et al. (1997) relationship reveals path. As a result, the shear wave velocities obtained from the 3rd
a very different trend from all the other equations. Furthermore, the geophone were believed to provide the best indication of in situ
relationship proposed for the Erbaa alluvial sand (red dashed line in velocity. The reason for selecting these 3rd geophone results was
Fig. 14) presents similarities with Dikmen (2009) and Raptakis et al. achieving consistent and realistic results for the study area after the
(1995) correlations. For sandy soils, Okamoto et al. (1989) and interpretations of all geophone results. Therefore, the shear wave
Hanumantharao and Ramana (2008) relations provide higher veloc- velocities obtained from the third geophone (g-3) were used to
ities than all the other equations. The newly developed relation for the develop the final shear wave velocity profiles (Akin et al., 2010). The
Pliocene sands shows similarities with Imai (1977) and Hasançebi and shear wave velocity profiles obtained from SPT-based uphole tests
Ulusay (2007) relations (Fig. 14). The Lee (1990) relationship for the based on the third geophone results are depicted in Fig. 17 for the
alluvial clay type soils has a similar trend with the proposed alluvial and Pliocene soils of Erbaa.
relationships in this study. Besides, Imai (1977) relationship is quite
relevant to the relation suggested for the Pliocene clay in the study 7. Comparison of measured and empirically-calculated shear wave
area (Fig. 15). velocities
6. Measured shear wave velocity (Vs) based on SPT-based uphole The shear wave velocities measured in the SPT-based uphole tests
method can be compared with those estimated using empirical models for
different soil types. The SPT-N and Vs correlations of the Erbaa soils
The shear wave velocity of the Erbaa soils can be determined from with respect to the aforementioned relationships are presented with
SPT-based uphole method using seven geophones at ten different the shear wave velocities determined from the SPT-based uphole
boreholes (BH-4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 18, 23, 28, 30, and 33). The distributions results. Moreover, the shear wave velocity determined from CPT,
of shear wave velocity with depth given by the seven different seismic refraction, and the SPT-based uphole tests are compared in
geophones at BH-4 are illustrated in Fig. 16. Fig. 18. Although a continuous shear wave velocity profile down to a
At the beginning of the shear wave velocity measurements from depth of 25 m could be obtained from the SPT-based uphole test for
the SPT-based uphole tests, travel time measurements from all seven BH-10, seismic refraction and CPT-based Vs measurements only give
M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17 9
Kanai (1966)
Ohsaki&Iwasaki (1973)
Ohta&Goto (1978)
Seed&Idriss (1981)
10
Imai&Tonouchi (1982)
Jinan (1987)
15
Yokota et al. (1991)
Athanasopoulos (1995)
20
Sisman (1995)
Iyisan (1996)
Hasancebi&Ulusay (2007)
Hanumantharao&Ramana(2008)
BH-2
30 Dikmen (2009)
Fig. 12. SPT-N and Vs correlations for all soils in BH-2 with respect to different researchers.
Table 1
Summary of empirical correlations based on SPT-N vs. Vs.
Researcher(s) Vs (m/s)
a 600
All alluvial soils
500
400
Vs (m/s)
300
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
SPT-N30
Kanai (1966) Ohba & Toriumi (1970) Imai & Yoshimura (1970)
Fujiwara (1972) Ohsaki & Iwasaki (1973) Imai et al. (1975)
Imai (1977) Ohta & Goto (1978) Seed & Idriss (1981)
Imai & Tonouchi (1982) Tonouchi et al. (1983) Jinan (1987)
Yokota et al. (1991) Kalteziotis et al. (1992) Athanasopoulos (1995)
Sisman (1995) Iyisan (1996) Jafari et al. (1997)
Kiku et al. (2001) Hasancebi & Ulusay (2007) Hanumantharao & Ramana (2008)
Dikmen (2009) This study This study
b 600
All Pliocene soils
500
400
Vs (m/s)
300
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
SPT-N30
Kanai (1966) Ohba & Toriumi (1970) Imai & Yoshimura (1970)
Fujiwara (1972) Ohsaki & Iwasaki (1973) Imai et al. (1975)
Imai (1977) Ohta & Goto (1978) Seed & Idriss (1981)
Imai & Tonouchi (1982) Tonouchi et al. (1983) Jinan (1987)
Yokota et al. (1991) Kalteziotis et al. (1992) Athanasopoulos (1995)
Sisman (1995) Iyisan (1996) Jafari et al. (1997)
Kiku et al. (2001) Hasancebi & Ulusay (2007) Hanumantharao & Ramana (2008)
Dikmen (2009) This study This study
Fig. 13. SPT-N and Vs empirical relations for all soils in Erbaa.
12 M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17
a 450
Alluvial sands
400
350
300
250
Vs (m/s)
200
150
100
50
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
SPT-N30
Shibata (1970) Ohta et al. (1972)
Imai (1977) Ohsaki & Iwasaki (1973)
Seed et al. (1983) Sykora & Stokoe (1983)
Fumal & Tinsley (1985) Okamoto et al. (1989)
Lee (1990) Pitilakis et al. (1992)
Raptakis et al. (1995) Kayabali (1996)
Hasancebi & Ulusay (2007) Hanumantharao & Ramana (2008)
Dikmen (2009) This study
This study
b 500
Pliocene sands
400
300
Vs (m/s)
200
100
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
Shibata (1970)
SPT-N30 Ohta et al. (1972)
Imai (1977) Ohsaki & Iwasaki (1973)
Seed et al. (1983) Sykora & Stokoe (1983)
Fumal & Tinsley (1985) Okamoto et al. (1989)
Lee (1990) Pitilakis et al. (1992)
Raptakis et al. (1995) Kayabali (1996)
Hasancebi & Ulusay (2007) Hanumantharao & Ramana (2008)
Dikmen (2009) This study
This study
M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17 13
a 500
Imai (1977)
Alluvial clays
Lee (1990)
400
Jafari et al.
(2002)
300
Hasancebi
Vs (m/s)
& Ulusay
(2007)
Dikmen
200 (2009)
This study
100
This study
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
SPT-N30
b 500
Imai (1977)
Pliocene clays
Lee (1990)
400
Jafari et al.
(2002)
300
Vs (m/s)
Hasancebi
& Ulusay
(2007)
200
Dikmen
(2009)
This study
0
0 10 20 30 40 50
SPT-N30
Fig. 15. SPT-N and Vs empirical relations for clayey soils in Erbaa.
shear wave velocity values to depths of 5–7 m. The correlation of 8. General evaluation
shear wave velocity profiles is similar for the available data in both
CPT-based measurements and SPT-based uphole measurements as Each of the empirical relationships listed in Table 1 expressed
seen in Fig. 18. shear wave velocity measurement directly as a function of SPT blow
Fig. 14. SPT-N and Vs empirical relations for sandy soils in Erbaa.
14 M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17
Vs (m/s) Vs (m/s)
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 0 100 200 300 400 500
0 0
g-1
5
5 g-2
g-3 10
10
Depth (m)
g-4
15
Depth (m)
g-5
15
CPT-based Vs
20
g-6
Seismic refraction-based Vs
20
g-7
25
25 30
Fig. 18. Comparison of shear wave velocity determined from CPT, seismic refraction,
and SPT-based uphole for BH-10 location.
SPT-based uphole (BH-4)
30
The distribution of the shear wave velocity data with respect to
Fig. 16. Shear wave velocity distribution for all geophones (BH-4). SPT-N value at the same depth with SPT application and SPT-based
uphole test is considered in the interpretations. These proposed
relationships are classified into three main groups according to three
count without overburden corrections or consideration of vertical main soil types of the study area: for all soils, for sand, and for clay.
effective stress or depth (Bellana, 2009). One exception belongs to the Moreover, the alluvial and Pliocene deposits are evaluated separately
study of Andrus et al. (2006) who used N1(60) values for the to consider the geologic age factor in this study. Consequently, new
calculation of shear wave velocity. empirical relationships between SPT-N and Vs are proposed for
a Vs (m/s) b Vs (m/s)
0 100 200 300 400 500 0 100 200 300 400 500 600
0 0
BH-4
BH-12
BH-6
5 5 BH-23
BH-8
BH-33
BH-10
10 BH-18 10
BH-28
Depth (m)
Depth (m)
BH-30
15 15
20 20
25 25
30 30
Fig. 17. Shear wave velocity profiles obtained from SPT-based uphole tests (a: alluvial soils, and b: Pliocene soils).
M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17 15
Vs (m/s)
a
100.00 150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00 350.00 400.00
0
N=10
10
N=20
N=30
Depth (m)
15
N=40
20 N=50
25
30
35
Vs (m/s)
b
150.00 200.00 250.00 300.00 350.00 400.00
0
N=10
10
N=20
N=30
Depth (m)
15
N=40
20 N=50
25
30
35
Fig. 19. Comparison of the proposed empirical relations for constant SPT-N value for (a) all alluvial soils, and (b) all Pliocene soils.
different alluvial and Pliocene soils in the study area in accordance construction of empirical relationships. The proposed empirical
with the SPT-based uphole measurements. relationships between Vs (m/s) and SPT-N30 are evaluated to
As aforementioned, the shear wave velocity determined from SPT- investigate the effect of changes for the depth (z) or vertical effective
based uphole test and SPT-N30 blow count at the same depth with SPT stress. The following power–law expressions including depth (in
application and SPT-based uphole tests are considered during the meters) based on multiple regressions are obtained for different soil
categories. It should be noted that the proposed Eqs. ((2) to (7)) are
valid down to 25 m depth for the study area.
Vs = 59:44N
0:109 0:426
z for all alluvial soils r = 0:89 ð2Þ
Table 2
The results of regression analyses.
Soil type Model 1 Model 2 Vs = 38:55N0:176 z0:481 for alluvial sand r = 0:94 ð3Þ
a b σln Vs c d e σln Vs
Vs = 78:1N0:116 z0:35 for alluvial clay r = 0:92 ð4Þ
Alluvial sand 4.0280 0.4405 0.3231 4.0852 0.1091 0.4257 0.1940
Alluvial clay 4.7037 0.2629 0.1564 4.8023 0.1007 0.2161 0.0916
All alluvial soils 4.2052 0.4671 0.2905 4.3576 0.1162 0.3505 0.1883 ð5Þ
Vs = 121:75N0:101 z0:216 for all Pliocene soils r = 0:94
Pliocene sand 3.7432 0.4740 0.3037 3.6519 0.1756 0.4815 0.1421
Pliocene clay 4.9479 0.1941 0.1512 4.9457 0.0490 0.2317 0.0934
All Pliocene soils 3.6542 0.5440 0.1344 3.9523 0.3588 0.1772 0.0656 0:359 0:177
Vs = 52:04N z for Pliocene sand r = 0:98 ð6Þ
16 M.K. Akin et al. / Engineering Geology 119 (2011) 1–17
Vs = 140:61N0:049 z0:232 for Pliocene clay r = 0:89 ð7Þ soils will be applicable for the indirect estimations of Vs in Erbaa
(Akin, 2009).
Two of the proposed correlations are evaluated for constant SPT-N 9. Conclusions and recommendations
blow count value and the related graphics are shown in Fig. 19. These
relationships reveal that the low values for SPT-N blow count are Shear wave velocity profiles of Erbaa were developed to provide
mostly affected from the depth during the calculation of shear wave data for site response analyses as a part of a microzonation study. The
velocities. geological units observed in the study area consist of alluvial and
To investigate the influence of depth on the prediction of shear Pliocene mostly clayey-sandy units. The layers were separately
wave velocity for the Erbaa soils, two velocity models were evaluated on the basis of the in-situ and laboratory tests, and field
investigated. The first was of a form similar to the great majority of explorations.
those listed in Table 1 in that the velocity was assumed to be The seismic uphole method which uses the impact energy of the
independent of depth or vertical effective stress, i.e., split spoon sampler of SPT test as a source was applied in this study
(SPT-based uphole method) to obtain shear wave velocity measure-
b ments. The measured SPT values were computed with different
Vs = a⋅N ð8Þ
empirical formulas and compared with Vs measurements for the site-
specific area.
where a and b are the constants to be determined by regression. The Shear wave velocity values obtained from geophysical tests and
second model assumed that the velocity was influenced by both SPT empirical correlations were also evaluated in this study. The
resistance and depth, and was of the form correlated results confirmed that these newly adapted formulas
including depth effects can be used for the study area. Measured and
d e
empirically calculated shear wave velocities are consistent with each
Vs = c⋅N ⋅z ð9Þ other. The dataset obtained from SPT-based uphole tests can be used
in the future investigations.
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