Evaluation of liquefaction potential by standard penetration test and shear wave velocity methods: a case study

Dynamic loads such as earthquakes can cause major failure to soil, and the foremost of these failure is soil liquefaction. In engineering studies, liquefaction analyses can be performed by different methods based on the results of field and laboratory experiments. In this study, the liquefaction potential of the soils of the Batman settlement zone, located close to the East Anatolian Fault Zone in Türkiye, was evaluated. In the study area, Meydan site consists of low-medium plasticity clay (CL) at a depth of 1.5–3 m and silty sand (SM) at a depth of 3.5–12.45 m; Bahçelievler site consists of low-medium plasticity clay (CL) at a depth of 1.5–7 m and silty sand (SM) at a depth of 7–15 m. For liquefaction analysis, magnitudes and accelerations of design earthquake were selected as 0.30 g for accelerations, and 7.5 and 6.5 for magnitudes. For this purpose, the effects of soil and earthquake parameters on soil liquefaction were evaluated using the standard penetration test (SPT) and shear wave velocity (Vs) methods with the Microsoft Excel-based SoilEngineering program and the obtained results were correlated and discussed. It is emphasized in this work that liquefaction potential analyses using soil and earthquake parameters provide more reliable results. In addition, the soil strata of locations where the liquefaction risk potential is high were found to have total settlement of approximately 36.87 to 36.2 cm, parallel to the high liquefaction risk, and it was determined that there may be high settlement in the area.