Effects of open gaps on particle velocity measurements

Summary Joints and bedding planes are present in nearly all geologic media. These discontinuities vary in the extent to which they are open and the material with which they are filled. The presence of such discontinuities affect the ground motions that result from the detonation of an explosive source. The effects of these discontinuities are especially important if it is desired to predict the size of the explosive source from measurements of ground motion — such as particle velocity or stress. In this paper we present results from a series of model tests conducted to investigate the effect of open gaps on the particle velocity that can be transmitted across them. Electromagnetic velocity gages were used to record particle velocities at several locations on either side of an open gap of known width. The study was restricted to the transmission of particle velocities normal to the gap and to the case where the gap was located in a region for which the stress was high but not greatly above the elastic limit of the material. The experimental results were compared qualitatively to results obtained from WONDY — a one dimensional Lagrangian finite difference code. Although the tests were conducted in laboratory models, the results can be scaled to compare to the full scale situation.