Geotechnical parameters study using seismic refraction tomography

Abstract

In this study, correlation is made between seismic P-wave velocities (Vp) with standard penetration test (SPT-N) values to produce soil parameter estimation for engineering site applications. A seismic refraction tomography (SRT) line of 69 m length was spread across two boreholes with 3 m geophones spacing. The acquired data were processed using Firstpix, SeisOpt2D and surfer8 software. The Vp at particular depths were pinpointed and correlated with geotechnical parameters (SPT-N values) from the borehole records. The correlation between Vp and SPT-N values has been established. For cohesive soils, it is grouped into three categories according to consistencies; stiff, very stiff and hard, having velocity ranges of 575-314 m/s, 808-1483 m/s and 1735-2974 m/s, respectively. For non-cohesive soils, it is also divided into three categories based on the denseness as loose, medium dense and dense with Vp ranges of 528-622 m/s, 900-2846 m/s and 2876-2951 m/s, respectively.