Compressive wave speeds in dry, confined granular mixtures

¹ Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, India
² Department of Space, Planetary & Astronomical Sciences and Engineering, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, India
³ Department of Earth and Space Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
⁴ Department of Earth Science, IIT Kanpur, Kanpur, India

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Published online: 1 December 2025

Abstract

The behavior of waves in granular aggregates holds significance in engineering and geotechnical applications alike. Earlier studies have investigated wave propagation in granular media, often estimating bulk elastic properties from measured wave speeds and proposing scaling laws relating wave speed to confining pressure. Here, we look at wave transmission through monodisperse granular aggregates of various particle sizes, and mixtures composed of grains of two different sizes. In particular, we will report findings from experiments conducted on a) monodisperse granular assemblies composed of particles with diameters ranging from 0.1mm to 4 mm; b) bidisperse granular mixtures composed of particles with diameters d₁ and d₂, mixed in equal proportions by mass, with mean diameters ranging from 0.175mm to 3.5mm and diameter ratios d_small/d_large between 0.125 and 0.75.