Abstract
Small strain stiffness of granular materials is important to many engineering applications, such as earthquake engineering, pavement, machine foundation, embankment subjected to tidal impacts, and foundations for structures under wind loads. Shear wave velocity, which is an indicator of stiffness, was measured with a newly developed bender element testing system. Test data supported that this testing system is effective in evaluating the shear wave velocity and its anisotropy of uniform spherical granular materials, including glass beads, uniform medium, and fine sands. Influencing factors on the Vs such as grain size and applied stress were studied. Two components of the soil stiffness anisotropy, namely stress anisotropy and fabric anisotropy were discussed. It was found that Vs anisotropy emerged for fine-grained soils at high consolidation stresses, indicating that the contact normal, or the magnitude and direction of interparticle contacts, between particles could be anisotropic. Vs anisotropy is not obvious for 6mm glass bead samples. An empirical equation relating α and β coefficient of equation Vs = α(ω'm/1kPa)β was proposed based on test results in this study: β = 1,217.93/ (α+117.21) 1.64. It was also observed that given equal other conditions, large particles, which possess significantly fewer contacts than small particles do, seem to transmit shear waves faster. However, the similar Vs values of granular samples with intermediate d50 sizes (0.26 - 3 mm) indicated that other mechanism(s) would contribute to the recorded Vs values. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
Recommended Citation
X. Kang et al., "Characterization of Shear Wave Velocity and its Anisotropy in Uniform Granular Materials," Geotechnical Special Publication, no. 234 GSP, pp. 2029 - 2041, American Society of Civil Engineers, Jan 2014.
The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784413272.198
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
International Standard Book Number (ISBN)
978-078441327-2
International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)
0895-0563
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
Document Version
Citation
File Type
text
Language(s)
English
Rights
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers, All rights reserved.
Publication Date
01 Jan 2014
