Abstract: According to the analysis of soil layer and shear wave velocity data of 78 boreholes from seismic safety evaluation reports of Houhu area in Wuhan, we classify rock and soil into 11 groups in terms of rock and soil types and mechanical properties. Furthermore, we carry out regression analysis on the relationship between shear wave velocity and soil depth using 3 empirical formulas inclusive of linear fitting, polynomial fitting and exponential fitting. Finally, we obtain regression formulas and coefficients of different soil layers in Houhu area of Wuhan, and analyze the causes of the difference in fitting accuracy. The result shows that there is high correlation between shear wave velocity and depth of soils in clay layer (plastic and hard plastic), silty clay layer(slightly dense, medium dense, and dense), and fine silty sand layer(slightly dense, medium dense, and dense), with coefficients from 0.71 to 0.95. The empirical relationship of these soils in this paper can be used as a reference for sites in the absence of shear wave velocity test.

Key words: shear wave velocity, soil depth, regression analysis, least squares method, Houhu area of Wuhan