Site-specific empirical correlation between shear wave velocity and standard penetration resistance using MASW method

In seismic engineering, dynamic property of the soil is one of the most important aspects in ground response analysis. It is significantly affected by the presence soil deposits of the site. Generally, the average shear wave velocity at top 30 m (V
s30
) of soil deposit is used to represent stiffness of the soil and is one of the important parameters to determine the soil amplification factor on the ground surface and site classification. V
s30
is usually determined by carry out wave propagation test on the field. However, it is not economically feasible to conduct test at all sites. Therefore, a reliable empirical correlation between shear wave velocity and standard penetration resistance (N
spt
) would be useful since the ease of obtaining the N
spt
from site investigation report. Although there are quite a number of these empirical correlations available in literature, but they are region specific and cannot be applicable to all region. In this study, Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave (MASW) is employed to obtain the shear wave velocity profile of site which needed to develop the empirical regression equations between V
s
and N
spt
for sand, silt and clay. MASW test has been carried out on the twenty sites which posses of N
spt
profiles around Penang Island. The empirical regression equations developed by the study area are exhibit good prediction performance. It can be used for the area which consist of soft to stiff clay and silt and loose to dense sand.