Impulse Backscattering in Granular Beds: Introducing a Toy Model

TL;DR

This paper introduces a simple 1D phenomenological model to simulate surface vibrations in granular beds, aiding the imaging of buried objects by analyzing impulse backscattering, supported by experimental validation.

Contribution

A novel 1D toy model with two parameters that captures surface vibrations and helps estimate signal transmission in granular beds, facilitating SBO imaging.

Findings

Model aligns with experimental data

Enables estimation of signal transmission properties

Supports improved imaging of buried objects

Abstract

Impulses efficiently propagate into nominally dry granular beds and backscatter from buried inclusions in such beds may be potentially exploited to image shallow buried objects (SBOs). However, reliable imaging of SBOs requires ``cleaning up'' of surface vibrations, and, in addition to 3D particle dynamics simulations, a phenomenological model to parameterize the bed surface may be useful for field applications. We introduce a 1D mean-field-like toy model with two parameters that allows one to model surface vibrations, is consistent with experiments in a granular bed, and can help estimate the approximate signal transmission properties of the bed.