Phase speed in water-saturated sand and glass beads at MHz frequencies

Measurements of the phase velocity of compressional sound waves in water-saturated granular materials are reported for the 1.0–2.0 MHz frequency range. The sound speed estimates are based on travel times through granular layer thicknesses ranging from 8 to 17 mm. Three types of granular media were used: 336 μm median diameter glass beads and two natural sands with median diameters of 219 and 406 μm. These grain sizes and frequency range correspond to 0.5 < k a < 1.2, where k is the wavenumber and a the grain radius. To remove trapped air, the samples were boiled under pressure before transfer to the measurement tank. The results are compared to previously reported experimental results and to the Schwartz and Plona [J. Appl. Phys. 55(11), 3971–3977 (1984)] multiple scattering prediction, confirming negative dispersion for ka > 0.5. Scaling the data by a factor depending on porosity and grain density reduces the spread among the available phase speed estimates by nearly a factor of 2, from 12.5% to 6.9%.