Effect of Hammer Impact on Wave Propagation Characteristics of Soil: A Laboratory Study

Wave transmission through soil due to dynamic load causes many problems to civil engineers craving safe construction. In this article, a laboratory model study is conducted to investigate the vibration propagation characteristics of soil due to the falling masses at different depths. Different types of impact, soils, and relative densities are used to study the characteristics of vibration transmission and energy dissipation. It was found that the increase in relative density and decrease in the depth causes an increase in the Peak Particle Acceleration and wave velocity of soil. An attempt is also made to determine the dynamic properties of soil using wave velocity ratios. A simple laboratory arrangement discussed here can be used to predict the wave propagation in soil reasonably and can determine its elastic constants. From the studies, it was revealed that the wave travel in soil and the peak particle acceleration depends on many factors like density, particle gradation, impact energy, etc.