Abstract:
Active seismic surface wave tests are tests during which signals are generated by artificial
sources such as sledgehammers, drop weights and fixed or variable frequency shakers.
A number of active seismic surface wave tests have become popular in the geotechnical
industry. Interestingly, different surface wave tests are popular in different regions of the world,
presumably because the tests require different equipment, expertise and numerical analysis
techniques. Few studies have been done to compare seismic surface wave tests directly. This
study investigated the performance of three active seismic surface wave tests, namely the
spectral analysis of surface waves (SASW), multi-channel analysis of surface waves (MASW) and
continuous surface wave (CSW) tests. This paper reports the performance of the three tests
with regard to repeatability, susceptibility to near-field effects, and maximum and minimum
measurement depths at both a shallow and a deep bedrock site.
