# Predicting Geotechnical Parameters from Seismic Wave Velocity Using Artificial Neural Networks
## 1 Introduction  
Seismic wave velocity is a practical, non-destructive, non-invasive, cost-effective measurement related to the inherent mechanical properties of geomaterials [1]. However, seismic wave velocity is not used directly in most designs of engineering structures. Developing correlations between seismic wave velocity and different engineering soil properties could facilitate the use of seismic information for designing engineering structures. Researchers have extensively studied the correlation between seismic wave velocity and different soil properties. [PERSON] developed correlations between shear wave velocity (\(V_{\mathrm{s}}\)) and uncorrected Standard Penetration Test (SPT-N) values for sandy, silty, and clayey soils [2]. It was shown that SPT-N and shear wave velocity were strongly correlated but the type of soil had no significant effect on the estimation of \(V_{\mathrm{s}}\). [PERSON] established correlations between shear wave velocity and uncorrected standard penetration resistance [3]. This study used 500 measurements on various sand and silt soils. The coefficient of determination for silty and sandy soils was relatively low in comparison to using all soils together. He also compared his results with existing correlations from the literature andshowed significant similarities with existing correlations. [PERSON] developed correlations between shear wave velocity and penetration resistance for sandy, clayey, and all soil (i.e., sandy and clay) using regression analysis [4]. Correlations between shear wave velocity and SPT-N were found to be significant. For sandy soil, the R-value was 0.65, for clayey soil the R-value was 0.75, and the combined data had an R-value of 0.73. [PERSON] also concluded that the blow count was a significant parameter for the correlation, but the soil type had no significant influence. A good correlation was established between S-wave velocity and the degradation factor (\(\mathrm{G_{PMT}}\)/\(\mathrm{G_{o}}\)), where \(\mathrm{G_{PMT}}\) is intermediate strain shear modulus from the PMT and \(\mathrm{G_{o}}\) is low strain modulus from S-wave velocity. However, the correlations between SPT-N and field measured S-wave velocity and P-wave velocity were poor. Correlations were also developed between shear wave velocity and cone penetration resistance. [PERSON] and [PERSON] worked on field clay soil and found empirical correlations between shear wave velocity (\(\mathrm{V_{s}}\)) and cone penetration tip resistance (\(\mathrm{q_{c}}\)) [5]. An increasing trend in shear wave velocities with cone penetration resistance was observed with consistency from soft to stiff to hard clay materials. Log regression analysis returned a coefficient of regression of 0.736. [PERSON] established correlations between S-wave velocity and SPT-N, bulk density, solidities as the complement of porosity, and mean grain size of surficial unconsolidated sediments [6]. S-wave velocities were measured in boreholes using the PS suspension logging tool. The results showed that it is possible to express N-values in terms of S-wave when N-value data have good accuracy. The correlation between S-wave velocities and solidities was good but was dependent on lithofacies and depositional age. The data also showed a good relationship between S-wave velocity and density but a weak relation between S-wave velocity and mean grain size. Even though most of the researchers found good correlations between S-wave velocity and N-values, studies by some researchers could not find out good correlations between S-wave velocity and N-values. A large number of researchers worked on developing correlation between shear wave velocity and SPT-N [7; 8; 9; 10; 11]. Some other researchers attempted to develop correlation between seismic wave velocity and other geotechnical parameters. [PERSON] worked with sand and clay soils to establish correlations between geophysical and geotechnical parameters [22]. Seismic refraction surveys were performed to collect S-wave and P-wave velocities.