Prediction of stress-wave propagation and densification response of aeolian silty fine sand under dynamic compaction at different energy levels

A prediction-based framework was developed to investigate stress-wave propagation, attenuation and densification of aeolian silty fine sand under 6,000, 8,000 and 10,000 kN•m dynamic compaction. Twelve-blow earth-pressure histories were compared with a literature-constrained axisymmetric explicit-dynamic surrogate. The axial peak stresses at 1 m depth were 900, 1,111 and 1,285 kPa. Spatial trends agreed closely (R²=0.989–0.996), although the uncalibrated amplitude agreement was only 73.3%–74.3%; a single amplitude factor increased it to 93.5%–95.5%. Peak dry-density improvement occurred at 5.5, 6.5 and 8.5 m, rather than at the shallow stress maximum. Thus, peak stress controls the affected zone, whereas cumulative impulse, plastic dissipation, confinement and initial density are required to explain permanent densification. All numerical series used here are predictions and require validation using measured histories and Abaqus ODB outputs.