1. Web-based Class Project on Rock Mechanics
In Situ Shear Wave Velocity Measurements in Rocks
Prepared by:
William Greenwood
Report prepared as part of course
CEE 544: Rock Mechanics
Winter 2015 Semester
Instructor: Professor Dimitrios Zekkos
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Michigan
With the Support of:

2. Outline In Situ Tests Shear Wave Velocity Case Study Soils and Rocks
Applications
Vs of Rocks
In Situ Tests
Refraction
Reflection
Surface Waves
Borehole Methods
Case Study
Ellefson et al. (2012)
Fracture Zone Identification

3. Physical and Chemical Weathering
Soils and Rocks
Site investigations often involve both soil and rock
Vp,soil is very sensitive to saturation
Stokoe et al. (2004)
Rock
For a fully-saturated soil:
Vp,soil = Vp,water
Between 0-100% saturation, Vp,rock may only change by a few percent.
Physical and Chemical Weathering
Soil

4. Applications Small-Strain Shear Modulus Foundation Design
Gazetas (1991)
Small-Strain Shear Modulus
Foundation Design
NIBS (2010)
Rathje and Kottke (2010)
Seismic Site Response Analyses
Building Codes
Various correlations, and much more.

5. Shear Wave Velocity of Some Rock Types
Velocities are highly dependent on degree of weathering
The Vs of a material may change by an order of magnitude over a relatively short distance

6. Surface Tests for Shear Wave Velocity
Stokoe et al. (2004)
Stokoe et al. (2004)
Refraction Survey
Reflection Survey
See also:
ASTM D5777
ASTM D7128
Stokoe et al. (1994)
Park et al., (1998)
Sahadewa et al. (2012)
Surface Waves (MASW)

7. Borehole Tests for Shear Wave Velocity
Stokoe and Santamarina (2000)
Stokoe and Santamarina (2000)
Crosshole Test
Suspension Logging
See also:
ASTM D7400
ASTM D4428
Kitsunezaki (1980)
Woods (1994)
Stokoe and Santamarina (2000)
Downhole Test

8. Case Study: Ellefson et al. (2012)
Characterization of geologic framework at a contaminated site in West Trenton, NJ, USA
Groundwater contaminated with chlorinated solvents from the Naval Air Warfare Center (NAWC)
Ellefson et al. (2012)

9. Case Study: Ellefson et al. (2012)
Fault locations estimated from geologic mapping and previous site investigations
Two boreholes drilled to estimate orientation of faults and extent of discontinuities
Ellefson et al. (2012)

10. Case Study: Ellefson et al. (2012)
Two seismic transects for refraction surveys were used in conjunction with other investigations
Low velocity zones identified as the extents of the fault zones
Ellefson et al. (2012)

11. References
ASTM Standard D4428. (2014). “Standard Test Methods for Crosshole Seismic Testing.” ASTM International, West Consohocken, PA.
ASTM Standard D5777. (2011). “Standard Guide for Using the Seismic Refraction Method for Subsurface Investigation.” ASTM International, West Consohocken, PA.
ASTM Standard D7128. (2010). “Standard Guide for Using the Seismic Reflection Method for Shallow Subsurface Investigation.” ASTM International, West Consohocken, PA.
ASTM Standard D7400. (2014). “Standard Test Methods for Downhole Seismic Testing.” ASTM International, West Consohocken, PA.
Ellefson, K. J., Burton, W. C., and Lacombe, P. J. (2012). “Integrated Characterization of the Geologic Framework of a Contaminated Site in West Trenton, New Jersey.” J. of Applied Geophysics, 79,
Gazetas, G. (1991). ”Formulas and Charts for Impedances of Surface and Embedded Foundations.” J. Geotech. Engrg., 117(9), 1363–1381.
Kitsunezaki, C. (1980). “A New Method for Shear Wave Logging.” Geophysics, 45,
Rathje, E. M., and Kottke, A. (2010). "Strata,"
Sahadewa, A., Zekkos, D., and Woods, R. D. (2012). “Observations from the Implementation of a Combined Active and Passive Surface Wave Based Methodology.” Proc. State of the Art and Practice in Geotechnical Engineering (Geocongress 2012),
Stokoe, K. H., II, Joh, S. –H., and Woods, R. D. (2004). “Some Contributions of in Situ Geophysical Measurements to Solving Geotechnical Engineering Problems.” International Conference on Site Characterization, Porto, Portugal.
Stokoe, K.H., II and Santamarina, J.C. (2000). “Seismic-wave Based Testing in Geotechnical Engineering.” Plenary Paper, International Conference on Geotechnical and Geological Engineering, GeoEng 2000, Melbourne, Australia, pp
(2010). “Earthquake Resistant Design Concepts.” FEMA P-749 December 2010, National Institute of Building Sciences.

12. More Information
More detailed technical information on this project can be found at: