A novel bender/extender element for soil testing

Bender elements were first introduced to soil testing by Shirley & Hampton (1978), and their use has now became almost routine in a wide variety of apparatus, using designs similar to those described in detail by Dyvik & Madshus (1985). Benders transmit and receive S-waves through the soil, enabling the shear wave velocity to be determined and hence the shear modulus, an important geotechnical parameter. Shear plates are also used, which are more effective at high confining stresses, and with very coarse soils Brignoli et al., 1996. However, they are bigger, require much larger driving...