Estudio de las velocidades sísmicas de un suelo arcillo limoso, con diferentes grados de compactación y humedad mediante sismógrafo

Abstract

Within the seismic methods of applied geophysics is the seismic refraction, which allows knowing several soil parameters from the measurement of their seismic wave propagation velocities. For these reasons, it is possible to determine relationships between soil parameters and their seismic velocities. In this titration work, the relationship of these speeds with two parameters of a soil classified as silty clay is analyzed: wet unit weight and humidity percentage. The investigation started by looking for places near the city of Cuenca to take samples and identify a silty clay. After determining the location of a soil with these characteristics within the area of Cuenca and Azogues, a sufficient amount of material was obtained to carry out the seismic test in the laboratory, varying both the humidity and the degree of compaction. In this method, the propagation time of the elastic waves is measured between a site where said waves are generated and the first arrival of these waves at different reception points located at a pre-established distance. Horizontal geophones were used to record velocities Vs and vertical geophones for the recording of velocities Vp. With these results it was possible to obtain a model to determine the wet unit weight of a silty clay, from the velocities Vp and Vs. Thanks to these resulting models, as well as to an analysis of the variability of the seismic velocities of the soil under study it is possible to affirm that the higher the seismic velocities of the soil in the study, the higher its unit weight.