Dimensionless Limits for the Collection and Interpretation of Wave Propagation Data in Soils

摘要

The use of bender elements to generate and receive shear waves in soils has become a very popular technique in geotechnical engineering studies. However as with any other wave propagation technique, the interpretation of bender element-collected data is controlled by wave characteristics, boundary conditions, and properties of the medium. This paper presents experimental data and simple closed-form solutions in order to investigate and to evaluate the effects due to the near field and boundary conditions in different types of specimen geometries and boundary conditions. Results yield dimensionless limits that must be taken into account to properly monitor soil parameters and to avoid misleading results in the interpretation of wave propagation data from the bender elements.