This paper presents the development, implementation and experimental evaluation of a new crack detection mechanism for centrifuge modelling. The proposed mechanism is a brittle conductor bonded to cement providing a binary indication of if, and when, a sensor is cracked. The results of a pair of large centrifuge tests were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed crack detection mechanism. Each test model included a soil profile consisting of a 23 m thick layer of lightly over-consolidated clay, underlain and overlain by thin layers of dense sand. The centrifuge models had two separate zones, a zone without reinforcement and a zone with an ‘embedded’ soil–cement grid, which had a unit cell area replacement ratio A r = 24%. Models were subjected to 13 different shaking events with peak base accelerations ranging from 0·01 to 0·55g. The performance of the proposed crack detection mechanism was examined using (i) post-test crack mapping in the soil–cement grids, (ii) results of the crack detection system and (iii) time series of accelerations, displacements and footing rotation. The results from the centrifuge test showed that the proposed crack detection method accurately captured if, and when, cracking occurred in the soil–cement grid at the locations of the sensors.
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Centrifuge Testing of Circular and Rectangular Embedded Structures with Base Excitations
We present data and metadata from a centrifuge testing program that was designed to investigate the seismic responses of buried circular and rectangular culverts. The specimen configurations were based on Caltrans Standard Plans, and the scope of research was to compare the experimental findings with the design method described in the NCHRP Report 611 as well as to formulate preliminary recommendations for Caltrans practice. A relatively flexible pipe and a stiff box-shaped specimen embedded in dense sand were tested in the centrifuge at the Center for Geotechnical Modeling at University of California, Davis and were subjected to a set of broadband and harmonic input motions. Responses were recorded in the soil and in the embedded structures using a dense array of instruments. Measured quantities included specimen accelerations, bending strains, and hoop strains; soil accelerations, shear-wave velocities, settlements, and lateral displacements; and accelerations of the centrifuge's shaking table. This data paper describes the tests and summarizes the generated data, which are archived at DesignSafe.ci.org (DOI: 10.17603/DS2XW9R) and are accessible through an interactive Jupyter notebook.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1520581
- PAR ID:
- 10398032
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Earthquake Spectra
- Volume:
- 35
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 8755-2930
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1485 to 1505
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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