Effect of Grain Size of Granular Soils on Shear Wave Velocity and Electrical Resistivity for Levee Health Monitoring
Publication: Geo-Congress 2023
ABSTRACT
Levees are geologically complex earthen structures that vary laterally and vertically. Current levee inspection practices consist of mainly visual inspections of the surface with limited instrumentation that measures data at discrete locations. To better characterize and monitor the subsurface of these highly complex and spatially distributed systems, non-invasive geophysical methods, such as the multichannel analysis of surface waves (MASW) and electromagnetic induction (EMI), can be used to map the geophysical properties, i.e., shear wave velocity and apparent electric resistivity, respectively. This study focuses on investigating the effect of soil grain size on shear wave velocity and electric resistivity measurements conducted in the laboratory for a range of relative density, water content, and confining stress values. The testing program involved two types of sand: Ottawa C109 sand and Nevada sand, which have different grain sizes, with a D50 of 0.36 mm and 0.18 mm, respectively. It is shown that both shear wave velocity and electric resistivity measurements were affected by grain size and can therefore be used to distinguish between different types of sands at depth. Laboratory testing showed that the coarser sand has higher shear wave velocity at lower water contents and that shear wave velocity decreases with increasing water content. Finer sand particles exhibited lower electrical resistivity for all soil densities and water contents compared to the coarser sand specimens, but the relationship was more pronounced at lower water contents.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Aris, M., Benahmed, N., and Bonelli, S. (2012). A laboratory study on the behavior of granular material using bender elements. European Journal of Environmental and Civil Engineering.
ASCE. (2019). Report Card for California’s Infrastructure. ASCE. Retrieved from INFRASTRUCTUREREPORTCARD.ORG/CALIFORNIA.
Asch, T. H., Deszcz-Pan, M., Burton, B. L., and Ball, L. B. (2008). Geophysical characterization of the American River levees, Sacramento, California, using electromagnetics, capacitively coupled resistivity, and DC resistivity. Virginia: USGS.
Bishop, M., Dunbar, J., and Peyman-Dove, L. (2003). Integration of remote sensing (LIDAR, electromagnetic conductivity) and geologic data toward the condition assessment of levee systems. SPIE, 4886, pp. 400–407.
Cardoso, R., and Dias, A. S. (2017). Study of the electrical resistivity of compacted kaolin based on water potential. Engineering Geology, 226, 1–11.
Carraro, J. A., Prezzi, M., and Salgado, R. (2009). Shear Strength and Stiffness of Sands Containing Plastic or Nonplastic Fines. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 135(9), 1167–1178.
Cho, G., Lee, J.-S., and Santamarina, J. C. (2004). Spatial Variability in Soils: High Resolution Assessment with Electrical Needle Probe. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 843–850.
Dong, Y., and Lu, N. (2016). Dependencies of Shear Wave Velocity and Shear Modulus on Soil Saturation. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 142(11), 04016083.
Hardin, B. O., and Richart, F. E. (1963). Elastic Wave Velocities in Granular Soils. Journal of the Soil Mechanics and Foundations Division, 89(1), 33–65.
Hultgren-Tillis Engineers. (2021). Preliminary Geotechnical Investigation, Three Seepage Sites, Reclamation District 3, Grand Island, Sacramento County, California. Concord: Hultgren-Tillis Engineers.
Inazaki, T., and Sakamoto, T. (2005). Geotechnical Characterization of Levee By Intergrated Geophysical Surveying.
Kang, M., and Lee, J. S. (2015). Evaluation of the freezing-thawing effects in sand-silt mixtures using elastic waves and electrical resistivity. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 113, 1–11.
Kibria, G., and Hossain, M. S. (2012). Investigation of Geotechnical Parameters Affecting Electrical Resistivity of Compacted Clays. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 138(12), 1520–1529.
Kim, J., Won, J., and Park, J. (2021). Effects of water saturation and distribution on small-strain stiffness. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 186, 104278.
Montoya, B. M., Gerhard, R., DeJong, J. T., Wilson, D. W., Weil, M. H., Martinez, B. C., and Pederson, L. (2012). Fabrication, Operation, and Health Monitoring of Bender Elements for Aggressive Environments. Geotechnical Testing Journal, 35(5), 728–742.
Pandey, L. M., Shukla, S. K., and Habibi, D. (2015). Electrical resistivity of sandy soil. Geotechnique Letters, 5, 178–185.
Park, C.-B., Miller, R.-D., and Xia, J. (1999). Multichannel analysis of surface waves. Geophysics, 63(3), 800–808.
Park, J.-H., and Lee, J.-S. (2014). Characteristics of elastic waves in sand-silt mixtures due to freezing. Cold Regions Science and Technology, 99, 1–11.
Robertson, P. K., Sasitharan, S., Cunning, J. C., and Sego, D. C. (1995). Shear-Wave Velocity to Evaluate In-Situ State of Ottawa Sand. Journal of Geotechnical Engineering, 121(3), 262–273.
Santamarina, J. C., Klein, K. A., Wang, Y. H., and Prencke, E. (2002). Specific surface: determination and relevance. Canadian Geotechnical Journal, 39, 233–241.
Tang, C.-S., Wang, D.-Y., Zhu, C., Zhou, Q.-Y., Xu, S.-K., and Shi, B. (2018). Characterizing drying-induced clayey soil desiccation cracking process using electrical resistivity method. Applied Clay Science, 152, 101–112.
Tresoldi, G., Arosio, D., Hojat, A., Longoni, L., Papini, M., and Zanzi, L. (2018). Tech-Levee-Watch: experimenting an integrated geophysical system for stability assessment of levees. Rendiconti Online Societa Geologica Italiana, 46, 38–43.
USSD (United States Society on Dams). (2016). Monitoring Levees. Denver: United States Society on Dams.
Viggiani, G., and Atkinson, J. H. (1995). Interpretation of bender element tests. Geotechnique, 45(1), 149–154.
Won, J., Park, J., Choo, H., and Burns, S. (2019). Estimation of saturated hydraulic conductivity of coarse-grained soils using particle shape and electrical resistivity. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 167, 19–25.
Yamashita, M. (1987). Resistivity correction factor for the four-probe method. Journal of Physics E: Scientific Instruments, 20, 1454–1456.
Yang, S., Lin, H., Kung, J., and Liao, J. (2008). Shear wave velocity and suction of unsaturated soil using bender element and filter paper method. Journal of GeoEngineering, 3(2), 67–74.
Yun, T. S., Narsilio, G. A., Santamarina, J. C., and Ruppel, C. (2006). Instrumented pressure testing chamber for characterizing sediment cores recovered at in situ hydrostatic pressure. Marine Geology, 229, 285–293.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Geo-Congress 2023
Pages: 415 - 423
History
Published online: Mar 23, 2023
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.