This article describes the development of a new device to measure the Young’s modulus of geomaterials. This device bases its operation on the propagation of nonlinear solitary waves along a chain full of spheres. The chain is placed vertically on the sample's surface, and then an incident wave is generated at its top. The pulse travels through the chain of spheres from top to bottom, generating a reflected wave as a result of the interaction between the last element and the material tested. The time-lapse between the incident and reflected waves, measured using a piezoelectric load cell inserted in the middle of the chain of spheres, allows the estimation of the Young's modulus of the sample through a numerical model. The usefulness of the device is demonstrated in control samples of known elastic properties, rocks, and compacted soils. Besides, this paper proposes a modification of the device, which consists of placing a metal cylinder instead of the last sphere of the chain; This modification improves the results obtained when analyzing soft soils. The results show that Young's moduli calculated by the developed device are equivalent to the modulus measured by alternative tests. This device could become a useful nondestructive test for measuring Young's modulus of subgrade materials.

本文介绍了一种用于测量土工材料的杨氏模量的新设备的开发。该装置的工作基于非线性孤波沿着充满球体的链的传播。将链垂直放置在样品表面上，然后在其顶部产生入射波。脉冲从上到下穿过球体链，由于最后一个元素与被测材料之间的相互作用而产生了反射波。使用插入在球体链中间的压电式称重传感器测量入射波与反射波之间的时间间隔，可以通过数值模型估算样品的杨氏模量。在已知弹性，岩石和压实土壤的对照样品中证明了该装置的实用性。此外，本文提出了该装置的一种改进，包括放置一个金属圆柱体而不是链的最后一个球体。此修改改进了分析软土时获得的结果。结果表明，由开发的设备计算出的杨氏模量等于通过替代测试测得的模量。该设备可以成为用于测量路基材料杨氏模量的有用的非破坏性测试。