UNIVERSITY OF BUEA

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY

First semester TUTORIAL-CIV413-2023/2024

SEISMIC REFRACTION IN CIVIL-ENGINEERING

An explosion pit is made (shot point) in the investigation site using 8 geophones (G1,
G2, G3,……G8) connected to the recording device (seismograph), which is placed away
from the shot point. The explosive is detonated, the elastic waves generated, due to the
detonation of explosives will start travelling in all direction. Some waves are directly
reaching geophones travelling through the topsoil. They are called direct waves and some
other waves get refracted in the 2nd and 3rd layers of strata and picked up by other
geophones and recorded as electrical pulses.

Arrival times of waves at different geophones are recorded and geophones distances
from the energy source are known. So, the velocity of waves propagating through each
rock stratum can be calculated. A travel time graph (time vs distance from geophone) is
drawn as shown in figure 1.

figure 1. time vs distance from geophone

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1) Draw the sketch of the principle of this investigation
2) How many layers of ground were travelled by the seismic waves
3) Write the equations of direct waves and some other waves get refracted in the 2nd
and 3rd layers of strata
4) Calculate the velocities V1, V2 and V3 of waves propagating through each rock
stratum
5) Hence deduce their thickness respectively and discuss the result obtained for layer
3
6) Draw the vertical geological section of the site

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