Vol.:(0123456789) Acta Geodaetica et Geophysica https://doi.org/10.1007/s40328-018-0220-5 1 3 ORIGINAL STUDY A generalized V S –N correlation using various regression analysis and genetic algorithm Amit Shiuly 1  · Narayan Roy 1 Received: 14 February 2018 / Accepted: 1 June 2018 © Akadémiai Kiadó 2018 Abstract Shear wave velocity (V S ) is an important parameter from geotechnical earthquake engi- neering perspective. In the absence of the direct measurement of V S , V S –N correlation serves an alternative for evaluating the shear wave velocity (V S ) from standard penetration resistance value (SPT-N) at a particular region. In the present study, an attempt has been made to propose generalized V S –N correlation from the globally available correlations for all soil and specifc soil type using various regression procedures and genetic algorithm (GA). Various regression procedures along with GA have been used to assess the sensi- tivity of generalized V S –N correlations in connection with regression methodology. 1D ground response analysis has been carried out at two bore-hole locations in Kolkata city using the V S obtained from generated correlations and site specifc response spectra have been generated at those two locations. Finally, performance of some typical buildings have been studied by nonlinear static analysis procedure using those site specifc response spec- tra developed for proposed V S –N relationships for all type of soil and specifc type of soil. The performance of the considered typical buildings has been represented in terms of base shear and roof displacement. Chi square (  2 ) test has also been conducted to check the confdence level of base shear and roof displacement obtained by using various developed V S –N relationships varies with the results obtained using available site specifc relation- ships proposed by Nath (2016), and it reveals that V S –N relationships developed by GA perform better than the V S –N relationships developed by other regression method. Keywords Shear wave velocity · Standard penetration resistance value · Regression · Genetic algorithm · 1D ground response analysis · Nonlinear static analysis · Chi square test * Amit Shiuly amitshiuly2@gmail.com Narayan Roy narayan.roy04@gmail.com 1 Civil Engineering Department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India