Experimental investigation of deep penetration in sands

Welcome to the resource webpage for the NSF project titled Experimental Investigation of Deep Penetration in Sands, grant no. 1562538. This webpage will be used to disseminate knowledge, experimental data and instructional videos generated from the research carried out in the project.

Outline

This project examines the fundamentals of the problem of deep penetration in sand. The deep penetration problem contains virtually all the challenges that geomechanicians may face: large displacements, large rotations, large strains, strain localization, crushing, and a moving soil­metal boundary. The research specifically uses the powerful combination of calibration chamber testing and the digital image correlation (DIC) technique to study cone penetration in crushable sands. A unique half-cylindrical chamber with a flat plexiglass wall that allows observation of the vertical motion of half-circular penetrometers will be used to acquire images of the penetration process under various conditions with state­of­the­art high­resolution digital cameras and microscopes. The calibration chamber tests are complemented by a complete laboratory testing program to produce data that can later be used in validation of theoretical simulations and development of methods of analysis and design.

Publications:

For copies, please email mprezzi@purdue.edu

Tovar-Valencia, R. D., Galvis-Castro, A.C., Salgado, R., & Prezzi, M. (2018). Effect of surface roughness on the shaft resistance of displacement model piles in sand. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 144(3), 04017120. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001828

Han, F., Ganju, E., Salgado, R., & Prezzi, M. (2018). Effects of interface roughness, particle geometry, and gradation on the sand–steel interface friction angle. Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering, 144(12), 04018096. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)GT.1943-5606.0001990

Galvis-Castro, A. C., Tovar-Valencia, R. D., Salgado, R., & Prezzi, M. (2019). Effect of loading direction on the shaft resistance of jacked piles in dense sand. Géotechnique, 69(1), 16-28. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.17.P.046

Ganju, E., Han, F., Prezzi, M., Salgado, R., & Pereira, J., S. (2020). Quantification of displacement and particle crushing around a penetrometer tip. Geoscience Frontiers, 11(2), 389-399. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gsf.2019.05.007

Ganju, E., Han, F., Galvis-Castro, A. C., Prezzi, M., & Salgado, R. (2020). Experimental study of crushing in cone penetration test in silica sand. Geo-Congress 2020: Modeling, Geomaterials, and Site Characterization, 132-144. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784482803.015

Videos: