Variations in shear wave velocity and soil site class in Kolkata city using regression and sensitivity analysis

The detrimental effects of an earthquake are strongly influenced by the response of soils subjected to dynamic loading. The behavior of soils under dynamic loading is governed by the dynamic soil properties such as shear wave velocity, damping characteristics and shear modulus. Worldwide, it is a common practice to obtain shear wave velocity (V s in m/s) using the correlation with field standard penetration test (SPT) N values in the absence of sophisticated dynamic field test data. In this paper, a similar but modified advanced approach has been proposed for a major metro city of eastern India, i.e., Kolkata city (latitudes 22°20′N–23°00′N and longitudes 88°04′E–88°33′E), to obtain shear wave velocity profile and soil site classification using regression and sensitivity analyses. Extensive geotechnical borehole data from 434 boreholes located across 75 sites in the city area of 185 km 2 and laboratory test data providing information on the thickness of subsoil strata, SPT N values, consistency indices and percentage of fines are collected and analyzed thoroughly. A correlation between shear wave velocity (V s ) and SPT N value for various soil profiles of Kolkata city has been established by using power model of nonlinear regression analysis and compared with existing correlations for other Indian cities. The present correlations, having regression coefficients (R 2 ) in excess of 0.96, indicated good prediction capability. Sensitivity analysis predicts that significant influence of soil type exists in determining V s values, for example, typical silty sand shows 30.4 % increase in magnitude of V s as compared to silt of Kolkata city. Moreover, the soil site classification shows Class D and Class E category of soil that exists typically in Kolkata city as per NEHRP (Recommended provisions for seismic regulations for new buildings and other structures—Part 1: Provisions. Prepared by the Building Seismic Safety Council for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (Report FEMA 450), Washington, DC, 2003 ) guidelines and thereby highlighting the seismic vulnerability of the city. The results presented in this study can be utilized for seismic microzonation, ground response analysis and hazard assessment for Kolkata city. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013