1.1 ,This test method covers the laboratory use of piezo-ceramic bender elements to determine the shear wave velocity in soil specimens. A shear wave is generated at one boundary of a soil specimen and then received at an opposite boundary. The shear wave travel time is measured, which over a known travel distance yields the shear wave velocity. From this shear wave velocity and the density of the soil specimen the initial shear modulus (G_max) can be determined, which is the result of primary interest from bender element tests.