Vibratory plate resonance compaction

Abstract

The development of vibratory plate compaction in North America, Japan and Europe is described. In Japan, the vibrator is attached to a massive plate and used as a bouncing tamper, operating at a low frequency. In Europe, the vibrator/plate system operates at a higher frequency and may be dynamically tuned by attaching a heavy mass, supported by elastomeric springs. Three case histories are presented where the compaction effect was carefully monitored by site investigations prior to and after treatment. These show that the depth of influence is directly related to the size of the plate. Finally, a recently developed application of the resonance compaction concept is described and illustrated by a case history.