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A Toolbox for the Automatic Interpretation of Bender Element Tests in Geomechanics

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Trends on Construction in the Digital Era (ISIC 2022)

Abstract

The small strain shear modulus is an important characteristic of geomaterials that can be measured using bender element experiments. However, most conventional interpretation techniques are based on the visual observation of the output signal and are inherently subjective. Other techniques, based on the cross-correlation of input and output signals lack physical insight, as they rely on the (faulty) assumption that input and output signals are similar. GeoHyTE is a new toolbox for the automatic interpretation of the output signal in bender element tests. GeoHyTE creates a digital twin of the experiment and determines the small strain shear modulus by maximising the correlation between the output signals obtained experimentally and digitally. It is objective, as minimal user intervention is required, and physically-meaningful, as the wave propagation process is modelled in full. Its results are successfully validated against well-known benchmarks reported in the literature.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia through grant PTDC/EAM-GTC/29923/2017 and national funds UIDB/04029/2020 and UIDB/04625/2020.

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Correspondence to Ionuţ Dragoş Moldovan .

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Moldovan, I.D., Almukashfi, A., Gomes Correia, A. (2023). A Toolbox for the Automatic Interpretation of Bender Element Tests in Geomechanics. In: Gomes Correia, A., Azenha, M., Cruz, P.J.S., Novais, P., Pereira, P. (eds) Trends on Construction in the Digital Era. ISIC 2022. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 306. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20241-4_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20241-4_10

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-20240-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-20241-4

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