MASW Survey for Mapping Soil Profiles at Investigation Site

Abstract

In geotechnical engineering projects, it is an essential task to map and identify the soil and rock profiles. Usually, these are done by conducting several standard penetration tests (SPTs). However, SPTs are time-consuming and expensive and require skilled workmanship for the execution. In recent days, development of various geophysical methods like multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) are used and even very helpful to map and identify the soil and rock profiles. MASW is a seismic exploration technique that uses surface waves to measure the shear wave velocities $(V_{\text{s}} )$. The main aim of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of MASW survey for determining the soil and rock layers. For this purpose, site investigations were carried out by conducting MASW and profiles of $V_{\text{s}}$ at various depths depicted at construction site. The results of MASW survey are then cross-verified with SPT profiles. In addition, based on the obtained experimental data, an equation has been proposed to find the shear wave velocity. The validity of the proposed equation is presented by comparing the shear wave velocities obtained from experiments and predicted from the proposed equation.