Effect of the driving system on Hardin-type resonant columns

Abstract

Resonant column (RC) devices have been widely used for estimating the shear modulus and damping ratio over a broad range of shear strain amplitudes. Although RCs significantly improve the assessment of soil dynamic properties, some challenges mainly associated with the calibration process still exist. This paper discusses the effect of the driving system rigidity on the measurements performed on a Hardin-type RC. It is shown that the use of a rigid connection between the soil specimen and the driving mass could significantly influence the obtained results. The findings of this study indicate that the apparatus resonant frequency of the Hardin-type RC device should be lower than the resonant frequencies likely to be measured during testing of the specimens.