Journal Published Online: 22 July 2013
Volume 36, Issue 5

A Large-Scale Soil-Structure Interface Testing Device

CODEN: GTJODJ

Abstract

A large-scale testing device for the experimental investigation of soil-structure interactions was developed. It allows an observation of the evolution of deformations and the measurement of the stresses in the soil-structure contact zone under 1 g-conditions. The tests are designed as boundary value problems for benchmark tests of numerical simulations. They can be used to validate contact formulations and constitutive equations for the soil. The dimensions (soil height >1.5 m) provide a sufficiently high stress level for simulations with constitutive models for soil. The major part of the device is an instrumented wall section with modifiable surface roughness representing, e.g., a part of a pile shaft or a steel sheet. This wall can be displaced quasi-statically relative to an adjacent soil body. The distribution of shear and normal stress and the wall displacements are measured. Digital image correlation (DIC) is used to evaluate the soil deformations. The paper focuses on the basic concept, the design, and the instrumentation details of the testing device. Additionally, some selected test results are shown.

Author Information

Vogelsang, Jakob
Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, DE
Huber, Gerhard
Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, DE
Triantafyllidis, Theodoros
Institute of Soil Mechanics and Rock Mechanics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, DE
Pages: 13
Price: $25.00
Related
Reprints and Permissions
Reprints and copyright permissions can be requested through the
Copyright Clearance Center
Details
Stock #: GTJ20120213
ISSN: 0149-6115
DOI: 10.1520/GTJ20120213