Reliability of Evaluation from Surface-Wave Tests
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137, Issue 6
Abstract
The reliability of surface-wave tests for the evaluation of in seismic site characterization is assessed with respect to both uncertainty and accuracy. The discussion of uncertainty is mainly focused on the implications of solution nonuniqueness in inverse problems; only the inversion uncertainty is considered within this work, omitting other possible issues such as nontrivial geological settings (e.g., lateral variations) or the influence of different processing procedures. A Monte Carlo approach has been used to select, through a statistical test, a set of shear-wave velocity models that can be considered equivalent with respect to fitting the experimental dispersion curve according to the information content (dispersion velocities and frequency range) and the experimental uncertainties. This set of equivalent solutions is then used to evaluate the uncertainty in the determination of . Moreover, comparisons between the results obtained by surface-wave tests and invasive seismic methods are reported to assess the accuracy of evaluation by using surface-wave methods. It is shown that, given an adequate investigation depth, the solution nonuniqueness is not a major concern and that the results are comparable in most situations with the results of invasive tests providing an accurate estimate of , even with simplified approaches.
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Acknowledgments
Giampiero Bianchi, Paolo Bergamo, Margherita Maraschini, and Claudio Strobbia have cooperated in the experimental program.
Data for the Catania site have been collected within the INGV project S4—Italian Accelerometric Database, sponsored by DPC (Italian Civil Protection). Data for L’Aquila sites have been collected within the characterization program aimed at reconstruction after the 2009 Earthquake coordinated by DPC.
Tuscany, Piedmont, and Aosta Valley regions supported the research for some of the sites.
An anonymous reviewer is also acknowledged for his constructive comments and precious suggestions.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 137 • Issue 6 • June 2011
Pages: 579 - 586
Copyright
© 2011 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 5, 2009
Accepted: Sep 23, 2010
Published online: Sep 29, 2010
Published in print: Jun 1, 2011
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