วารสารวิชาการพระจอมเกล้าพระนครเหนือ ปีที่ 20 ฉบับที่ 2 พ.ค. - ส.ค.

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The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010

A Development of a Bender Element Apparatus

Keeratikan Piriyakul1

1. Introduction Vs = L/t (1)

Recently, the Soil Mechanics Laboratory of the
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Technology, King Mongkut’s University of
Technology North Bangkok has developed the
bender element test apparatus for determination of
the initial shear modulus, G0, by means of elastic
shear wave propagation. This measurement uses the
principles of wave propagation showing a direct
correlation between the shear wave velocity and G0
as described in [1]. This initial shear modulus is
widely considered to be an important parameter in
earthquake engineering and the prediction of soil
structure interaction. The objective of this research
is to develop the bender element test for G 0
measurement. In order to obtain this shear modulus,
bender element sensors are applied in the triaxial
apparatus with a design similar to those described in
detail by [2] offering possibility to apply isotropic
stress conditions on a soil specimen and measuring
shear wave velocity. The shear wave is generated
and received by bender element sensors placed at
opposite ends of the soil specimen. The shear wave
velocity is calculated from the tip to tip distance
between the two transducers and the time required
by the shear wave to cover this distance as shown in
Equation 1.
1
Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Technology, College of Industrial
Technology, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok, Tel. 0-2913-2500 Ext. 6511,
E-mail : keeratikanp@kmutnb.ac.th
where Vs is the shear wave velocity’ L is the tip
to tip distance between two transducers, and t is the
required time to cover this distance as shown in
Equation 2.
t = tt - tc (2)
where tt is the total travel time and tc is the offset time.
Another method to determine the shear wave
velocity is developed by [3]. In this method a
continuous sine wave is applied to a transmitter
transducer at a low frequency. The output from the
receiver transducer is displayed at the same time.
The frequency of the input is gradually increased
until the output signal comes into phase. If the initial
frequency is low enough, it will create one full
wavelength between both transducers. The input
frequency is again increased until a multiple number
of full wavelengths is obtained. The shear wave
velocity can be calculated by Equation 3.
Vs = (L/N).f (3)
where N is the number of full wavelengths and f is
the frequency of sending signal.

Received 3 September 2009; Accepted 18 December 2009

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The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010

After obtaining the shear wave velocities, the

initial shear modulus, G0, is calculated using the
relationship of elastic continuum mechanics as
shown in Equation 4.

G0= ρ.Vs² (4)

where ρ is mass density of the material.

[4] determined the shear wave velocity by
bender elements using variable-path length method.
Their study used a continuous sinusoidal wave
instead of pulse wave in triaxial test.
Figure 1 Operation of bender element after [5].
2. Operation of Bender Element Sensors
The principle of bender elements is based on
the properties of piezoelectric materials. A voltage
applied to faces of a combination of two
piezoelectric materials causes one to expand while
the other contracts, causing the entire element to
bend as shown in Figure 1. Similarly, a lateral
disturbance of the bender element will produce a
voltage so the bender elements can be used as both
shear wave transmitters and receivers. Measurement Figure 2 a) Series and b) Parallel connected bender
of time delay between sending and receiving of the elements after [1].
shear wave will provide the shear wave velocity.
There are two types of piezoelectric bender such that the two outer electrode surfaces are the
elements. One is a series connected bender element same pole and the center electrode is the other pole.
and the other is a parallel connected element. The To attach an electrical wire lead to the center
series connected bender element is shown in electrode, a portion of the element must be ground
Figure 2a. Noting that the polarization is oriented in away. The series connected bender element is better
opposite directions for each plate. An electrical wire to use as receiver. On the other hand, the parallel
lead is attached to each of the outer electrode connected bender element is better to use as
surfaces. The parallel connected bender element is transmitter. However, this research uses only the
shown in Figure 2b. In this second type of bender series type for both transmitter and receiver
elements, the polarization has the same direction for transducer due to the advantage in measurement of
both plates. The electrical connections are attached receiving signal.

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The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010

Figure 4 Schematic of piezoelectric bender element

and associated electronics.

Figure 3 Set-up of bender elements in the triaxial

apparatus.

Figure 3 shows the triaxial apparatus with

bender elements set-up. A personal computer
generates a signal through a sound card with 5V
peak to peak as suggested by [6]. This signal is
amplified to 40V peak to peak. A Hewlett-Packard
dynamic signal analyzer model 3562A is used to
measure the arrival time between a transmitted
signal and a received signal. A voltage pulse is
applied to the transmitter transducer, causing it to
produce a shear wave. When the shear wave reaches
the other end of the soil specimen, distortion of the
receiver transducer produces another voltage pulse.
The receiver transducer is directly connected to the
analyzer to compare the difference in time between
the transmitter and the receiver as depicted in
Figure 4. The shear wave velocity measurements are
usually performed with frequencies ranging between
2 to 10 kHz, at strains estimated to be less than
0.0001 %. At low frequencies, signals can be
influenced by a near-field effect. The near-field
effect will be discussed in the next section. At high
Figure 5 Influence of near field effect on the shear
wave arrival in a clay specimen with
different frequencies.
frequencies, the received signal is very weak and
difficult to interpret. In most cases, signals are
averaged 20 times in order to get a clear signal.
3. Near-field Effect
At the low frequencies, the first deflection of
the measured signal does not correspond to the
arrival of the shear wave but the arrival of a
compression wave so called near-field component. It
should be noted that this near-field effect may mask

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The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010
Figure 6 Calibration of bender element with a
single period sinusoidal waveform.
the arrival of the shear wave when the distance
between the transmitter and the receiver is in the
range of ¼-4 wavelengths. Figure 5 shows that the
near-field effect decays fast when the number of
wavelengths between the transmitter and the
receiver increases as described by [2]. In this
research, the optimum frequencies giving good
signals are between 2 to 10 kHz. The resonant
frequency of the piezoelectric bender element is
610 Hz, frequencies lower than 1 kHz should
therefore not be applied.
4. Calibration of Bender Elements
Before performing the tests, it is essential to
calibrate the complete system. To ensure no delay
time in the measurement due to the electronics,
ceramics and coating material, there are two
methods. In the first method, the offset time, tc, is
estimated by putting a pair of bender element
directly in contact and measuring the time interval
between the transmitter transducer and the receiver
transducer. In the second method, the triaxial
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Figure 7 Calibration of bender element with a
four period sinusoidal waveform.
apparatus is set up without a specimen inside. The
bender elements are placed at the suitable height and
distance by clamping. No shear wave arrival should
be recorded when the triaxial apparatus is empty or
when the triaxial cell is filled with water.
Figure 6 shows the delay of the shear wave
often attaching the transmitting transducer directly
to the receiving transducer and sending a single
period sinusoidal waveform with a frequency of
4 kHz. The offset time, tc, of 7.80 µs is measured. In
the similar way, a four period sinusoidal waveform
with frequency of 4 kHz is sent and its delay is
3.906 µs as seen in Figure 7.
5. Example of Experimental Results
In this research a triaxial apparatus mounted
with piezoelectric bender elements is used for
performing the triaxial test under an isotropic stress
condition. An overconsolidated Boom clay
specimen is installed into the triaxial apparatus. The
cylindrical clay specimen has a diameter of 37.8
mm and height of 87.8 mm. The specific gravity of
 วารสารวิชาการพระจอมเกล้าพระนครเหนือ ปีที่ 20 ฉบับที่ 2 พ.ค. - ส.ค. 2553
The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010

Figure 8 Example of measurement of a single Figure 9 Example of measurement of a four

period sinusoidal shear wave travel time period sinusoidal shear wave travel time
in a Boom clay specimen. in a Boom clay specimen.

the specimen, Gs, is 2.7, the water content is 32.2 %

and the mass density, ρ, is 1949 kg/m 3 . The
specimen is subjected to an isotropic stress of 100 kPa.
Figure 8 shows the total travel time of a single
sinusoidal waveform in the Boom clay sample, tt, of
460.90 µs. From Equation 2, the required travel time,
t, is calculated by subtracting the offset time, t c.
Therefore the required travel time is 453.10 µs. The
tip to tip distance between the transducers is 83.96
mm. A shear wave velocity, V s = 185.30 m/s is Figure 10 Example of measurement of continuously
obtained by using the Equation 1. The initial shear sinusoidal shear wave travel time in a
modulus, G0, of 66.92 MPa can be calculated from Boom clay specimen.
the Equation 4.
Similar as the interpretation of a single period remove the uncertainty, the continuous sinusoidal
sinusoidal shear wave, Figure 9 shows the total waveform is used. This technique is convenient and
travel time of a four period sinusoidal waveform in efficient.
a Boom clay sample, t, is 457.00 µs. The offset Figure 10 shows the cross-correlation of the
time, tc, is 3.906 µs and Vs = 185.31 m/s. The initial input and output signals. A frequency of 9012 Hz
shear modulus, G0, of 66.93 MPa can be calculated. is measured. Using Equation 4, a shear wave velocity
In some cases, the interpretation of a single or of 189.16 m/s is calculated since the number of
a four period sinusoidal waveform is ambiguous. To wavelengths is 4 and the tip to tip distance of 83.96 mm.

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The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010

Table 1 presents the shear wave velocities by evaluate the shear wave velocity and the shear
continuous sinusoidal shear wave measurements on modulus of soils, which are important parameters
a Boom clay sample. The results show that the for civil and earthquake engineering. The shear
interpretation of shear wave arrival time is improved modulus of soils can be accurately obtained using
when the number of wavelengths is higher than four the piezoelectric bender elements. This technique
or five. measures the shear modulus in a very small strain
region where the strain is less than 0.0001 % and
Table 1 V s from continuously sinusoidal shear this region is assumed to be an elastic region for the
wave measurement of a Boom clay soil material. By interpretation of three different
specimen with different frequencies waveforms, there is no significant effect of
No. of wavelengths f (Hz) Vs (m/s) waveforms on the determination of the shear wave
1 2050 172.12 velocity. It is shown that the piezoelectric bender
2 3915 164.22 element test is a good method for determining the
3 6150 172.12 shear wave velocity. Since it is a non intrusive test,
4 9012 189.16
the soil specimen will not be disturbed during the
5 11050 185.55
test, therefore the same soil sample can be used for
Using Equation 3, the shear moduli are other types of soil testing.
calculated for all methods and show good agreement
as shown in Table 2. 7. Acknowledgement
The author is grateful to the fund for the
Table 2 Shear moduli of a Boom clay specimen. general scientific research of the King Mongkut’s
Methods Vs (m/s) G (MPa) University of Technology North Bangkok (KMUTNB).
Single period sinusoidal 185.30 66.92
waveform References
Four period sinusoidal 185.31 66.93 [1] R. Dyvik and C. Madshus, “Laboratory
waveform measurement of Gmax using bender elements,”
Continuously sinusoidal 189.16
69.74 The ASCE Annual Convention, pp. 186-196,
waveform
Detroi, 1985.
[2] E. G. M. Brignoli, M. Gotti, and K. H. Stokoe,
6. Conclusions “Measurement of shear waves in laboratory
Bender element testing is a new technique, specimens by means of piezoelectric
which is applied to the Soil Mechanics Laboratory transducers,” Geotechnical Testing Journal,
of the Department of Civil and Environmental vol.19, pp. 384-397, 1996.
Engineering Technology, College of Industrial [3] J. Blewett, I. Blewett, and P. Woodward,
Technology, King Mongkut’s University North “Measurement of shear wave velocity using
Bangkok. This bender element test is able to phase-sensitive detection techniques,”

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The Journal of KMUTNB., Vol. 20, No. 2, May. - Aug. 2010

Canadian Geotechnical Journal, vol. 36, pp.
934-939, 1999.
[4] T. Boonyatee, “Determination of shear wave
velocity by bender elements using variable-
path length method,” Soils and foundations,
vol. 49, pp. 489-494, 2009.
[5] S. L. Kramer, Geotechnical Earthquake
Engineering, New Jersey : Prentice-Hall
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Saddle, 1996.
[6] A. K. M. Mohsin and D. W. Airey, “Automating
Gmax measurement in triaxial tests,” The
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Geomaterials, pp. 73-80, Lyon, 2003.

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