For the analysis of footings under dynamic loading scaled modeling in the centrifuge assumes that the soil behaves like at prototype scale. This paper demonstrates that for a container filled with dry sand, wave velocities can be described by a model based on the relation between the shear modulus and the depth dependent stress level proposed by Iwasaki and Tatsuoka. A preliminary estimation of the shear wave velocities and of the Poisson’s ratio confirms by dynamical measurements the currently use value of 0.25. A FEM modeling also helps to strengthen the validity of the model proposed, providing another insight in the propagation of waves in a soil with a velocity gradient
