Shear wave velocity as function of cone penetration resistance and grain size for Holocene-age uncemented soils: a new perspective

Abstract

For feasibility studies and preliminary design estimates, field measurements of shear wave velocity, V s, may not be economically adequate and empirical correlations between V s and more available penetration measurements such as cone penetration test, CPT, data turn out to be potentially valuable at least for initial evaluation of the small-strain stiffness of soils. These types of correlations between geophysical (Vs) and geotechnical (N-SPT, q c-CPT) measurements are also of utmost importance where a great precision in the calculation of the deposit response is required such as in liquefaction evaluation or earthquake ground response analyses. In this study, the stress-normalized shear wave velocity V s1 (in m/s) is defined as statistical functions of the normalized dimensionless resistance, Q tn-CPT, and the mean effective diameter, D 50 (in mm), using a data set of different uncemented soils of Holocene age accumulated at various sites in North America, Europe, and Asia. The V s1–Q tn data exhibit different trends with respect to grain sizes. For soils with mean grain size (D 50) < 0.2 mm, the V s1/Q tn 0.25 ratio undergoes a significant reduction with the increase in D 50 of the soil. This trend is completely reversed with further increase in D 50 (D 50 > 0.2 mm). These results corroborate earlier results that stressed the use of different CPT-based correlations with different soil types, and those emphasized the need to impose particle-size limits on the validity of the majority of available correlations.