Expansion of an automated system for determining soil parameters using in-situ tests

An ongoing research project aims to create an automated parameter determination (APD) framework relying on a graph-based approach for determining constitutive model parameters from in-situ tests. The system requires two spreadsheets as inputs. One spreadsheet defines the parameters, while the other spreadsheet specifies the correlations. The...

Hydrogen-Enhanced Fatigue of Pipeline Steels and Their Welds

Hydrogen as an alternative energy source has risen in popularity due to increased environmental awareness. Existing natural gas infrastructure is considered as a means to transport hydrogen, due to practicality and financial aspects. However, hydrogen can deteriorate the fatigue behaviour and thus induce premature failure. Since fatigue is a...

Relating cone penetration resistance to sand state using the material point method

Cone penetration tests (CPTs) can quantitatively inform about the mechanical state of a sand. However, relating measured cone resistance values to sand state requires complex back-analysis of the processes occurring in the soil during the test. This paper provides new evidence of the value added in this area by modern large-deformation...

Assessing the Susceptibility of Existing Pipelines to Hydrogen Embrittlement

With fossil fuels being phased out and growing global interest in a hydrogen economy, there is demand for re-purposing existing pipelines for transportation of hydrogen gas. However, hydrogen embrittlement (HE) can limit pipeline steel’s performance. In this study, the effect of hydrogen on the mechanical properties of an X60 base metal ...

Assessing the susceptibility of existing pipelines to Hydrogen Embrittlement: A combined modelling and in-situ experimental approach

With fossil fuels being phased out and growing global interest in a hydrogen economy, there is demand for re-purposing existing pipelines for transportation of hydrogen gas. However, hydrogen is known to have adverse affects on the properties of steels. Hydrogen will dissolve in the steel matrix and contribute to a reduction of mechanical...

An Automated System to Determine Constitutive Model Parameters from In Situ Tests

In situ tests, such as the cone penetration test (CPT), are a popular tool for geotechnical engineers because they are an efficient and economical method for routine site characterisation, soil profiling and estimation of constitutive properties of soil. The main problem with interpreting in situ test results is the large amount of empiricism...

Ground characterisation for PISA pile testing and analysis

This paper is the first of a set of linked publications on the PISA Joint Industry Research Project, which was concerned with the development of improved design methods for monopile foundations in offshore wind applications. PISA involved large-scale pile tests in overconsolidated glacial till at Cowden, north-east England, and in dense,...

Interpreting and validating the thermal cone penetration test (T-CPT)

The thermal cone penetration test (T-CPT) allows in situ measurement of the thermal properties of soil during a CPT-that is without withdrawing the CPT tool and introducing another tool such as a thermal needle probe. An interpretation method is presented based on one-dimensional axisymmetric analytical solutions. Numerical verification of...

Influence of the curing time of a newly placed silty soil on the resistance against concentrated leak erosion: (Abstract)

Literature review on the assessment of masonry properties by tests on core samples

Starting point in this research is to find a quick and non-destructive method to characterize the mechanical properties of existing masonry. Tests on cylindrical cores have been recently introduced as a novel in-situ testing method to identify the properties of existing clay brick masonry. Currently, some researchers reported promising results,...

Degradation of CIGS solar cells

Thin film CIGS solar cells and individual layers within these solar cells have been tested in order to assess their long term stability. Alongside with the execution of standard tests, in which elevated temperatures and humidity levels are used, the solar cells have also been exposed to a combination of elevated temperature and humidity and...

Investigation of the reduction in uncertainty due to soil variability when conditioning a random field using Kriging

Spatial variability of soil properties is inherent in soil deposits, whether as a result of natural geological processes or engineering construction. It is therefore important to account for soil variability in geotechnical design in order to represent more realistically a soil’s in situ state. This variability may be modelled as a random field,...

Multi-Axial Deformation Setup for Microscopic Testing of Sheet Metal to Fracture

While the industrial interest in sheet metal with improved specific-properties led to the design of new alloys with complex microstructures, predicting their safe forming limits and understanding their microstructural deformation mechanisms remain as significant challenges largely due to the inadequacy of the existing experimental tools. The...