Measuring soil bulk density from shear wave velocity using piezoelectric sensors

Bulk density and soil stiffness moduli are vital physical parameters related to soil compaction, porosity, moisture storage capacity, soil penetration resistance and structural integrity. Conventional methods for measuring soil density and stiffness moduli are destructive, time-consuming, complex, expensive and often require skilled operators to conduct the tests. A new soil density and stiffness moduli measurement technique that can evaluate soil density and stiffness moduli more rapidly, efficiently and precisely, at a low cost is introduced here. This study evaluated the use of shear wave velocity measurements using the piezoelectric extender and bender elements as a viable alternative to measure soil density and stiffness moduli of soil. To test this idea, soda-lime glass beads of <0.002, 0.04–0.07 and 1.00–1.30 mm in diameter were used to develop the empirical relationship between the shear wave velocity and the bulk density of soil in laboratory conditions. These empirical equations were then tested on sands and clayey soils for validation. Accuracy in terms of coefficient of determination (R2) and root mean squared error (RMSE) from the current and existing studies ranged within 0.91–0.93 and 0.073–0.177 g cm–3 respectively. Both shear and Young moduli were compared with the shear wave velocity of soil, with R2 and RMSE of 0.96–0.97 and 0.48–3.5 MPa respectively. The major advantage of this technique is that input and output signal data can be stored in a computer that can be used to calculate soil density and stiffness moduli automatically. This technique could play a vital role in improving crop yield and soil management practices.