Continuous characterization of dynamic soil behavior by Digital Image Correlation in a transparent shear laminar box

This work characterizes and analyzes the dynamic behavior of a sandy soil due to one-dimensional propagation of mechanical waves into a transparent laminar shear box. The outstanding char acteristic of this laminar box is a transparent front glass, which allows monitoring the soil behavior by a high-speed and high-resolution camera, and then computing the displacement field in the soil by the Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique. The response of the laminar container was evaluated using ambient vibrations, harmonic signals and Ricker wavelets. Afterward, dynamic soil properties derived from DIC analysis are compared against theoretical and laboratory results. Finally, a numerical simulation is carried out using the finite element method, where the influence of the lateral friction of the glass on the motion is assessed and discussed. It is concluded that the transparent laminar shear box provides a useful tool for studying the continuous dynamic soil behavior; additionally, the transparent boundary has a minor impact on the results and a minimum observable cyclic shear strain of about 10–4 was reached.