INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY MADRAS, CHENNAI

Department of Civil Engineering

CE 6310 Earthquake Geotechnical Engineering

Assignment # 4: Wave Propagation & Dynamic Soil Properties

Note: Make suitable assumptions wherever necessary.

1. (a) Solve the problem of an SH wave incident on a solid-liquid boundary when the
incidence medium is solid.
(b) Show that at a fixed frequency (e.g., in the spectral domain), the particle motion
of a Rayleigh wave is an ellipse. Show that at the free surface it is a retrograde
ellipse but at depth it changes from retrograde to prograde (and at some depth it is
vertical).

2.

3.

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4.

5. Is it possible to have spherical symmetry for S-waves propagating away from a point
source? Under what conditions could an explosive source generate shear waves?

6. Assume harmonic P waves are traveling through a solid with V P = 10 km/s. If the
maximum strain is 10−8, what is the maximum particle displacement for waves with
periods of: (a) 1 s, (b) 10 s, (c) 100 s?
7.

8. A seismic refraction survey using shear waves was undertaken at a level site. The
time of first arrival of the shear wave at various velocity receivers is set out below

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 where x is the distance (m) of the receiver from the shot point and the time, t in
milliseconds (10-3 sec).
Determine the thickness of the layers and the shear wave velocity in each layer.
x 3 6 12 18 24 30 36 50 70
t 24.8 50.1 99.7 159.9 180.1 210.0 232.0 260.0 300.0

9. A seismic refraction survey with reverse profiling between two shot points located 60
m apart (Figure) below shows the P-wave arrival times listed below, determine the
following:
(i) P-wave velocities of 1st and 2nd layers,
(ii) Depths of the layer boundaries at shot points A and E, and
(iii) Dip angle.

Point of disturbance A Point of disturbance E

Distance from A Time of first Distance from E Time of first

(m) arrival (ms) (m) arrival (ms)
5 12.1 5 11.5
10 25.2 10 22.8
15 35.3 15 34.5
20 48.0 20 44.8
30 60.2 30 69.1
40 68.5 40 78.1
50 76.8 50 82.8
60 85.1 60 87.7

60 m

HA Layer 1, Vp1
HE

Layer 2, Vp2

10. A sample of saturated clay is recovered from a depth of 4.5 m. Its total unit weight
as well as that of the overlying soil is estimated to be 20 kN/m3. Piezometer tests in
the borehole indicated the piezometric surface (water table) depth of 1.5 m. A
consolidation test is conducted on the sample, which yields an indicated
preconsolidation pressure of 192 kN/m2 and an initial void ratio of 0.60. The
plasticity index of clay is measured to be 30. Determine the shear modulus of the
soil, G max .
11. Standard penetration test was conducted on a stratum of clean, medium, round-
grained sand 9 m below the soil surface, which is at the base of a very large, i.e., 6
m deep excavation. The penetration resistance is 16 blows per 30 cm. The unit
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 weight of the sand and that of the overlying soil is 18.40 kN/m3, and the void ratio
of the soil is 0.65. The water table is situated 3 m below the bottom of excavation,
and the sand is known to have been normally consolidated prior to the time the
excavation was made. What is the in-situ shear modulus at the point where the
penetration test is conducted?
12. In a down-hole survey, a seismic source generated the SV-waves and the first
arrival times were recorded at various depths (m) in a borehole. The depths of the
receivers and the arrival times are listed in the table. Calculate the layer thickness,
shear wave velocity and estimate the shear modulus of each layer. The water table
is at the surface and the saturated density of each soil layer may be assumed to be
1900 kg/m3.

Depth,
m 2 3 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24
Time,
ms 13.2 20.0 26.8 38.0 46.0 54.0 62.0 70.0 76.5 80.0 83.5 88.0 90.0

13.

14.

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15. A soil profile is shown in the figure below. Calculate and plot the variation of shear
modulus with depth (for low amplitude of vibration).

16.

17. A vertical vibration test was conducted on a concrete block measuring 1.0 × 1.0 ×
1.5 m deep placed on the surface of a sand (Bulk unit weight of soil = 17.5 kN/m3;
Poisson’s ratio of soil = 0.25; Unit weight of concrete = 25 kN/m3). The water table
was encountered at a depth of 1 m. The saturated unit weight of soil below the
water table is 19.5 kN/m3. The mechanical oscillator has a mass of 50 kg. The
frequency at which the maximum displacement occurs is determined in a number
of trials and the average resonant frequency is 2400 rpm. Determine
(i) Coefficient of elastic uniform compression (C u ) and dynamic shear modulus (G)
for the test condition, and (ii) Dynamic shear modulus (G) at a depth of 3 m below
the ground surface. Use unit weight of water as 9.81 kN/m3.
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18. For the hysterisis loop shown in the figure below, compute the dynamic stress-
strain modulus and the damping ratio ξ.

19. Determine and plot the backbone curve that would correspond to the Vucetic-
Dobry modulus reduction curve for a clay with PI = 15.

20.

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