Technical Papers
Jul 14, 2023

Correlation between Shear-Wave Velocity and Dynamic Cone Resistance for Gravelly Soil

Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149, Issue 9

Abstract

Developing empirical correlations between the shear-wave velocity (Vs) and the standard penetration test (SPT) blow count has been a long-term practice for sandy, silty, and clayey soils. However, the existing correlations are not suitable for gravelly soils because the SPT is not particularly reliable for gravelly soils due to the interference of SPT sampler with relatively large-size gravel particles. Hence, in the present study, a new correlation has been developed between Vs and the dynamic cone penetration test (DPT) resistance for gravelly soils. The DPT, which consists of a 74-mm-diameter cone to reduce the interference of large particles, has recently been used to correlate the liquefaction resistance of gravelly soils. A large database has recently been developed based on both DPT and Vs data collected from different companion sites all around the world to develop new liquefaction triggering procedures. Based on this database, linear and log-linear correlations have been developed considering the effect of vertical effective stress. Results showed that the correlations among the uncorrected DPT and Vs resistance and the vertical effective stress are much stronger in comparison with the correlation obtained between the overburden-corrected DPT resistance and Vs. A reasonable agreement was observed between the measured and computed Vs for both linear and log-linear correlations.

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Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Acknowledgments

Funding for this study was provided by Grant No. G16AP00108 from the US Geological Survey Earthquake Hazard Reduction Program and Grant Nos. CMMI-1663546 and CMMI-16632884 from the National Science Foundation. This funding is gratefully acknowledged. However, the opinions, conclusions, and recommendations in this paper do not necessarily represent those of the sponsors.

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Go to Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 149Issue 9September 2023

History

Received: Aug 11, 2022
Accepted: May 18, 2023
Published online: Jul 14, 2023
Published in print: Sep 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Dec 14, 2023

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Authors

Affiliations

Research Assistant, Dept. of Civil and Environment Engineering, Brigham Young Univ., 430 Engineering Bldg., Provo, UT 84602 (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0854-3790. Email: [email protected]
Kyle M. Rollins, M.ASCE [email protected]
Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environment Engineering, Brigham Young Univ., 430 Engineering Bldg., Provo, UT 84602. Email: [email protected]
Adda Athanasopoulos-Zekkos, M.ASCE [email protected]
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. Email: [email protected]
Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9907-3362. Email: [email protected]

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