Elastic Properties of Compacted Clay Soils by Laser Ultrasonics

To evaluate the effect of the excitation frequency on the dynamic properties of soils, the elastic modulus , shear modulus , and Poisson’s ratio for three Mexican compacted clayey soils were determined using two techniques: laser ultrasonic and resonant column (RC) tests. For the first, the parameters were determined by measurements of the P- and S-waves at ultrasonic frequencies and variations of the height of the cylindrical soil specimens and for the second one, a harmonic excitation between 5 Hz and 7 Hz was applied. Large variations in the elastic parameters through an ultrasonic axial scanning of the soil specimens were observed; this reveals the heterogeneity of these materials, while a decrease of the sample aspect ratio mainly affects the determination of Poisson’s ratio. The ultrasonic data were integrated with those from RC data to obtain a shear modulus profile covering both high and low frequencies. The interpolation on whether the data are either linear or not is an indication of the viscoelastic behavior of the compacted clayey soils. The specimens were: (a) clay from Texcoco Valley, (b) clay from Mexico Valley, and (c) granular soils from the Parota. Experimental determination of the mechanical properties of soils is very important because soil constitutive models are traditionally calibrated from global boundary measurements taken from laboratory soil specimens. The most difficult parameter to obtain is the Poisson’s ratio, as well as the shear modulus, which is a fundamental parameter for establishing the soil response under low amplitude vibrations and it is extremely important to foundation design.