Location

San Diego, California

Presentation Date

26 May 2010, 4:45 pm - 6:45 pm

Abstract

Shear wave velocity (Vs) is an important parameter for the design of geotechnical works in seismically active areas. The Vs value commonly reflects geological information and engineering properties such as stiffness and density. It is also an important parameter of soil for design and site response purposes. As a part of a microzonation study, field tests performed in Erbaa, Turkey were evaluated to obtain shear wave velocity profiles. The study area, Erbaa, is located on the eastern segment of seismically active North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) where a catastrophic earthquake occurred in 1942. In addition, several earthquakes and earthquake-related hazards have occurred along different segments of this fault zone in the recent past. Hence, shear wave velocity profiles of Erbaa were developed for the purpose of performing site response analyses as a part of a microzonation study. The geological units observed in the study area 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 applications. The relationship between shear wave velocity, Standard Penetration Test (SPT) blow-counts (N) and the soil properties are discussed with the consideration of their variations with depth. A new technique called SPT-based uphole test was performed to measure shear wave velocity during drilling operations. The measured SPT uphole-based Vs values are compared with Vs values from SPT-based empirical formula for the site-specific area. It was concluded that these empirical correlations should be modified to provide the best correlation for this site. Therefore, a site-specific formula was proposed in these empirical calculations in order to obtain Vs profiles for sandy layers in the study area.

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Meeting Name

5th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Document Version

Final Version

Rights

© 2010 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Document Type

Article - Conference proceedings

File Type

text

Language

English

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May 24th, 12:00 AM May 29th, 12:00 AM

Comparison of Measured and Estimated Shear Wave Velocities in a Seismically Active Area (Erbaa, Turkey)

San Diego, California

Shear wave velocity (Vs) is an important parameter for the design of geotechnical works in seismically active areas. The Vs value commonly reflects geological information and engineering properties such as stiffness and density. It is also an important parameter of soil for design and site response purposes. As a part of a microzonation study, field tests performed in Erbaa, Turkey were evaluated to obtain shear wave velocity profiles. The study area, Erbaa, is located on the eastern segment of seismically active North Anatolian Fault Zone (NAFZ) where a catastrophic earthquake occurred in 1942. In addition, several earthquakes and earthquake-related hazards have occurred along different segments of this fault zone in the recent past. Hence, shear wave velocity profiles of Erbaa were developed for the purpose of performing site response analyses as a part of a microzonation study. The geological units observed in the study area 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 applications. The relationship between shear wave velocity, Standard Penetration Test (SPT) blow-counts (N) and the soil properties are discussed with the consideration of their variations with depth. A new technique called SPT-based uphole test was performed to measure shear wave velocity during drilling operations. The measured SPT uphole-based Vs values are compared with Vs values from SPT-based empirical formula for the site-specific area. It was concluded that these empirical correlations should be modified to provide the best correlation for this site. Therefore, a site-specific formula was proposed in these empirical calculations in order to obtain Vs profiles for sandy layers in the study area.