Experimental Analysis of 3D Cracking in Drying Soils Using Ground-Penetrating Radar

Levatti, Hector Ulises; Prat, Pere C.; Ledesma, Alberto; Cuadrado, Agustín; Cordero, J. A.

doi:10.1520/gtj20160066

Cited by 32 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The tests were carried out in an existing environmental chamber [12,52] which was extensively refitted and modified to allow cyclic environmental changes [7,53]. The main features of this environmental chamber include: a) automatic photography of the external upper surface of the specimen at pre-defined regular intervals; b) halogen lamps to control the chamber temperature; c) data acquisition and control system to record and drive chamber temperature and relative humidity, and suction and temperature of the soil; d) dehumidification system to induce desiccation; e) humidification system to induce wetting; f) control system to combine dehumidification and humidification devices; g) complementary data acquisition system to monitor temperature and volumetric water content of the specimens.…”

Section: The Experimental Program Used For the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The main objective of the numerical analysis is to reproduce the time evolution of the recorded variables (suction, water content, deformation) during laboratory tests performed in recent years [12,53] and to estimate the stress evolution before and after the initiation of the cracks. The formulation presented in this work is general [48] but the implementation for the analysis is made in order to solve a radial section of a cylindrical specimen, of 80 cm in diameter and 20 cm in height.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Numerical and experimental study of initiation and propagation of desiccation cracks in clayey soils

Levatti

Prat

Ledesma

2019

Computers and Geotechnics

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This paper presents the fundamentals and the mathematical formulation to study desiccation cracking in soils based on Unsaturated Soil Mechanics as well as a numerical analysis of a previous desiccation test program. The numerical approach implemented in MATLAB is used in 2D simulations on radial sections of the cylindrical specimens and in a theoretical study of the stress field in plane strain conditions. The numerical analysis, based on two stress stare variables (total net stress and suction) is consistent and in good agreement with the experimental results, including the location of cracks and time of crack initiation.

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Section: The Experimental Program Used For the Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical and experimental study of initiation and propagation of desiccation cracks in clayey soils

Levatti

Prat

Ledesma

2019

Computers and Geotechnics

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“…The environmental chamber used in the investigation was designed to study cracking in soils as a result of drying or wetting conditions by imposing and controlling environmental conditions and eventually studying the impact of cycles of such environmental conditions (Lakshmikantha 2009). The equipment is capable of monitoring the changes of the porewater pressure within the soil specimen while the moisture changes as well as taking photographic images of the top surface of the specimen (Cordero et al 2014;Cordero et al 2015;Levatti et al 2017). Fig.…”

Section: The Environmental Chambermentioning

confidence: 99%

Boundary Effects in the Desiccation of Soil Layers with Controlled Environmental Conditions

2018

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This article presents the results of an experimental research carried to investigate the mechanics of cracking of soil layers under drying conditions. The tests were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions and in an environmental chamber with circular and rectangular specimens to investigate the effect of the boundary conditions (size, shape, and aspect ratio of the specimens and containers) on the process of initiation and propagation of cracks and on the final crack pattern at the end of desiccation. The tests in the environmental chamber were conducted with imposed temperature and relative humidity and provided new insight into the mechanics of the formation of cracks in a drying soil, and they showed that cracks can initiate either at the top, bottom, or at both surfaces of the drying specimen. The results also reveal how the crack patterns are controlled by the existing mechanical and hydraulic boundary conditions. The cracks seem to form sequentially in patterns that can be explained by three key factors: stresses higher than the tensile strength, the direction of the generated stresses, and the stress redistribution in the vicinity or inside the newly formed domain. In order to substantiate the sequential nature of the crack pattern formation, experimental evidences showing the existence of a cracking sequence during the laboratory desiccation experiments are presented and analyzed.

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“…X‐ray, magnetic resonance, or electrical resistivity tomography, which may need expensive equipment or complicated setups, were used to detect the inner cracks of soil specimens . Levatti et al used ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) to monitor the cracking process inside soil specimens. Lab tests of soil specimens are under controlled conditions of temperature, stress state, water content, and so on.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A subgrade cracking monitoring sensor based on optical fiber sensing technique

Liu

Zhou

Wang

et al. 2018

Struct Control Health Monit

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Summary The presence of cracks is ubiquitous and a major concern for subgrade. Effective detection and quantification of cracks in soil specimens or structures are the prerequisites for understanding the generation of cracks and their impacts. This paper introduces a cracking monitoring sensor for subgrade structure based on the Brillouin optical time domain analysis/reflectometry technique. The proposed sensor has been applied for the subgrade cracking monitoring of a test section of He‐da highway in China. The total covering length of the installed sensors is more than 200 m. Sensor data have been collected four times within a freezing and thawing cycle between November 2015 and May 2016. The test results prove that the proposed sensor has high survival rate after installation and high accuracy in cracking detection and quantification. The field application demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed sensor in systematic performance monitoring of pavement structure.

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Experimental Analysis of 3D Cracking in Drying Soils Using Ground-Penetrating Radar

Cited by 32 publications

References 28 publications

Numerical and experimental study of initiation and propagation of desiccation cracks in clayey soils

Numerical and experimental study of initiation and propagation of desiccation cracks in clayey soils

Boundary Effects in the Desiccation of Soil Layers with Controlled Environmental Conditions

A subgrade cracking monitoring sensor based on optical fiber sensing technique

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