Versatility of the P-RAT for shear wave velocity measurement

A. Mhenni

In the proceedings of: GeoVancouver 2016: 69th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: SOIL AND TERRAIN CHARACTERIZATION - III Geotechnical Laboratory Testing

ABSTRACT: Shear wave velocity (Vs mechanical parameter that can be measured in-situ as well as in the laboratory. The laboratory measurement of Vs can be grasped using resonant column (RC) technique or through piezoelectric elements such as the bender elements (BE). Despite of their popularities, these techniques have a number of flaws with respect to the transmission of both primary and shear waves, the near-field effects, and the uncertainty in the interpretation of the obtained signals. A new technique, called piezoelectric actuators rings technique (P-RAT) was developed in the geotechnical laboratory at the University of Sherbrooke in order to minimize/eliminate the difficulties associated with other techniques, in particular, the penetration of samples (unavoidable with BE). This paper presents a brief description of the P-RAT and the different stages of its evolution. Examples of the use of the technique to measure Vs of granular, cohesive soils, rock fills as well as other cementitious materials will be also presented in this paper.

RÉSUMÉ: La vitesse des ondes de cisaillement (Vs) est un paramètre mécanique qui peut être mesurée autant in-laboratoire. La mesure de Vs peut être réalisée avec une colonne de résonnance (RC) ou à piézoélectriques comme les Bender éléments (BE). Cependant, ces techniques présentent un certain nombre de problèmes au niveau de piézoélectriques actuateurs (P-RAT) a été développée dans le laboratoire géotechnique de l'Université de Sherbrooke afin de minimiser / éliminer les difficultés associées aux autres techniques, en particulier, la pénétration des échantillons obligatoire pour la technique BE. Cette étude présente une brève description de la technique P-RAT, les différentes et aussi sur des matériaux cimentaires seront présentés.

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Cite this article:
A. Mhenni (2016) Versatility of the P-RAT for shear wave velocity measurement in GEO2016. Ottawa, Ontario: Canadian Geotechnical Society.

@article{4312_0822093018,author = A. Mhenni,title = Versatility of the P-RAT for shear wave velocity measurement,year = 2016}