Impact Induced Responses of Saturated and Dry Dense Sand

Abstract

The present article includes an experimental study of the behavior of dry and saturated dense sandy soil under the action of a single impulsive load. Dry and saturated dense sand models were tested under impact loads. Different falling masses from different heights were conducted using the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) to provide the single pulse energy. The responses of dense soils were evaluated at surface of soil under impact load. These responses include; displacements, velocities, and accelerations that are developed due to the impact acting at top and the displacement at different depths within the soil using the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) and accelerometers (ARH-500A waterproof, and low capacity acceleration transducer) that are embedded in the soil in addition to soil pressure gauges and then recorded using the multi-recorder TMR-200. Based on the experimental test results, it was found that as the sand becomes saturated, the amplitude of the force-time history decreases by about 10-22% since the voids are filled with water which lead to less contact points between particles. Moreover, the resulting vertical displacement due to impact increases by about 20-60% as compared to the case of dry sand at a depth B (where B is the diameter of the bearing plate) from the bearing plate. Such a behavior is related to two compressive waves through the saturated medium; the fluid wave and the soil skeleton wave with a coupled motion of those two waves hence, makes the displacement to be larger in the saturated soil. The horizontal displacement within the soil medium at a distance B away from the edge of the footing are less than the displacements in dry state. The excess pore water pressure increases by about 40% as the amplitude of the impact force increases due to the increase of the contact pressure.