Soil Dynamics Testing in the Laboratory

Soil dynamic laboratory tests are conducted on specimens retrieved from the area of interest, and considered to be representative of the ground. They tend to be clayey, so that they are considered “undisturbed”. For coarse-grained soils, the specimens in the laboratory are typically reconstituted. These tests are instrumented and highly controlled and therefore the dynamic response of soil is thoroughly investigated.

The most common low-strain laboratory tests that are conducted are the following:

• Resonant Column Test
• Bender Element Test

The most common high strain laboratory tests are:

• Cyclic Triaxial Test
• Cyclic Simple Shear Test
• Cyclic Torsion Test 

Moreover, model tests can be conducted to examine the soil-structure response under cyclic loading at a reduced or full-scale. Such tests are:

• Shaking table tests
• Centrifuge tests