Comparison of shear wave velocity calculation techniques for centrifuge test data

Publication Title
Comparison of shear wave velocity calculation techniques for centrifuge test data

Abstract

The method of measuring the propagation of shear wave velocity through a soil column to determine the small strain stiffness is commonplace for centrifuge models. An air hammer device sends shear waves through the soil in flight and are picked up by a vertical array of accelerometers. There are different methods to calculate the time delay for the shear wave to reach each accelerometer, which results in different wave speeds and soil stiffness. This paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of two such methods: peak to peak, where a single peak is considered, and cross correlation, where the entire shear wave is considered. To compare the two methods, MATLAB code was written to use findpeaks and xcorr to calculate and plot wave speed from centrifuge test data. Good agreement is achieved in ideal conditions, but other situations where each method is superior, and should be used, or a pitfall, giving unreliable results, are presented and discussed.

Authors
D. M. Xu; Sulakna Weerasuriya; P. Gopal MADABHUSHIS

Published In

11th International Conference on Physical Modelling in Geotechnics (ICPMG2026)

Theme

Session 1: New facilities, new equipment, and measuring techniques