The small strain shear modulus, Gmax, is considered a fundamental design parameter in many geotechnical
applications for soils under dynamic loads. Gmax can be estimated from both in situ and laboratory
techniques. The piezoelectric ring-actuator technique (P-RAT) was developed at the geotechnical laboratory
of Université de Sherbrooke (QC, Canada) to measure the shear wave velocity (Vs) and accordingly Gmax.
This technique can be incorporated into different conventional apparatuses (e.g., triaxial, oedometer). This paper represents a description of the development of P-RAT to estimate Vs with a suitable accuracy as well as the developed interpretation method of output signals during Vs measurements. In addition, the Vs results of three granular soils were measured and a correlation between the void ratio (e) and Vs was then established. The obtained results showed compatibility with different Vs-e correlations proposed in the literature.