The Horizontal Shear Wave Actuator (HORSA) is
a versatile exploration tool for down-hole commercial and research
cross-hole testing. Encompassing both a vertically (SVH) and
horizontally (SHH) polarised shear-wave source, the HORSA probe is
unique as it enables a full investigation of the nature of the
subsurface. It has applications in civil engineering, mining and the
determination of seismicity.
Download full
specification datasheet as
pdf
[290kb]
What are its
uses
To date, most cross-hole surveys have utilised vertically polarised
shear waves (Sv) or compression waves (P). As the numerical modeling
techniques available to geotechnical engineers become increasingly
sophisticated, more detailed knowledge of different elastic
parameters for design purposes is required. The HORSA provides this
information which is not readily available otherwise. The generation
of horizontally polarised shear waves down
a small borehole (<5” or 100mm) has presented many problems in the
past. For this reason, GDS Instruments has joined a consortium to
develop this rugged and reliable tool for the determination of basic
dynamic elastic moduli through to cross-anisotropy elastic moduli.
