Shear wave velocity in sand considering the effects of frequency based on particle contact theory

Abstract Since the shear waves involved in in-situ and laboratory measurement methods vary significantly in terms of the frequency range, it is necessary to consider the effects of frequency on the shear wave velocity. In this study, sand particles are assumed to be spherical solid particles with an equal radius and identical material properties, and sand skeletons are regarded as granular aggregations generated through the random packing of sand particles. It is also assumed that the sand particles only undergo elastic deformation during shear wave propagation. Based on a spherical particle model, a formula is obtained for calculating the shear wave velocity in sand, with the shear wave frequency as an extra influencing parameter. The quantitative calculations demonstrate that the shear wave velocity decreases with an increase of sand porosity, and accelerates with increases of vertical effective stress and elastic modulus of the sand particles. It is also indicated that both the particle density and Poisson’s ratio of the sand particles have negligible effects on the shear wave propagation. The frequency dispersion characteristics of shear wave propagating in sand are also discussed. Moreover, the critical frequency is defined and its analytical expression is derived. The calculation results obtained using the proposed equations agree well with the in-situ measurement results and bender element test data.