Soil Behavior Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Soil Behavior - Research Paper Example It occurs majorly in soils that are water saturated. All air spaces in this kind of soil are filled with water. Before the impact of the earthquake, soil water has low pressure, but the impact of the earthquake increases the pressure of the water in the soil, particularly between the individual soil particles (Muiri, 1990). These particles, pressing against one another, break and reduce in strength and stiffness. Developments made on the surface of the earth by human efforts exert heavy weight on the soil increasing the pressure in the soil water and this too can cause changes in the strength of the soil. Ground improvements are the various ways by which soil engineering properties are made better in order to reduce exertion of pressure on the soil particles by the water. The properties of concern are; the ability of the soil to pass water, shear strength and soil stiffness. In this move, expensive and sophisticated materials and other tools are laid below the foundations to support the weights of heavy structures on the ground. Other techniques are also employed, e.g. dykes, tunnels, channels, reservoirs and embankments, which have been used to reduce the impact of the earthquakes. This reduces the water pressure on the soil particles. This is done by engineers depending on the size of the structures and the intensity of the earthquakes in the region. Geophysical methods are the methods used to collect data, relating to waves, in the soil. These are; Direct Current Electrical Resistivity, Induced Polarization and Spectral Induced Polarization where directly, electricity is pumped into the ground to collect and record all the information on ground waves. Another method is Electromagnetic and Ground Penetrating Radar in which the information is recorded with no direct contact with the earth media. It uses EM waves also. Gravity and Microgravity is another method of measuring the waves using gravimeters. This method obtains the masses and densities