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Correlative neutron and X-ray tomography imaging of pile installation in chalk

Correlative neutron and X-ray tomography imaging of pile installation in chalk
Correlative neutron and X-ray tomography imaging of pile installation in chalk
Neutron and X-ray tomography (NCT and XCT, respectively) are imaging techniques increasingly being applied in geomechanics research. They are used to non-destructively reveal different microstructural aspects of geomaterials: XCT is often used to observe/quantify differences in density or porosity, while NCT reveals the presence and distribution of hydrogenous materials such as water. The correlated use of NCT and XCT for geomechanics and geotechnics research is in its infancy. To this date, very few experiments have been carried out that combine both techniques, and none have been used to investigate geomaterial-structure interaction. This paper presents the first correlative NCT-XCT imaging study of pile installation. A scaled model pile was installed in an unsaturated intact chalk cylinder and in-situ NCT and ex-situ XCT synchrotron-based imaging was applied consecutively. Chalk was used because the behaviour of displacement piles installed in this material is still subject to considerable uncertainty. Results reveal for the first time the interaction between installation-induced changes in chalk density and water distribution variations, with evidence of water displacement into the densified material in the vicinity of the installed pile. A straightforward method for correlative bulk density-moisture content determination from NCT-XCT images of geomaterials are presented and their limitations discussed.
Chalk, Micro-CT, piles & piling, soil/structure interaction
0016-8505
Alvarez Borges, Fernando
5512cdfd-6ad3-475f-8aec-2fc767607314
Burca, Genoveva
3847188f-2a19-4974-8cd7-21ba038c660f
Atwood, Robert C.
853929bc-679d-47bb-8ba8-acd139fc857e
James, Andrew
dd3d3911-176c-497f-96bd-ccc58b6f0972
Wolstenholme, Mark
4497e55b-46ee-444a-a698-90e2a894aae5
Ahmed, Sharif
ddc6bab1-9d76-4391-b7ea-ae68d6f3924d
Alvarez Borges, Fernando
5512cdfd-6ad3-475f-8aec-2fc767607314
Burca, Genoveva
3847188f-2a19-4974-8cd7-21ba038c660f
Atwood, Robert C.
853929bc-679d-47bb-8ba8-acd139fc857e
James, Andrew
dd3d3911-176c-497f-96bd-ccc58b6f0972
Wolstenholme, Mark
4497e55b-46ee-444a-a698-90e2a894aae5
Ahmed, Sharif
ddc6bab1-9d76-4391-b7ea-ae68d6f3924d

Alvarez Borges, Fernando, Burca, Genoveva, Atwood, Robert C., James, Andrew, Wolstenholme, Mark and Ahmed, Sharif (2022) Correlative neutron and X-ray tomography imaging of pile installation in chalk. Géotechnique. (doi:10.1680/jgeot.21.00318).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Neutron and X-ray tomography (NCT and XCT, respectively) are imaging techniques increasingly being applied in geomechanics research. They are used to non-destructively reveal different microstructural aspects of geomaterials: XCT is often used to observe/quantify differences in density or porosity, while NCT reveals the presence and distribution of hydrogenous materials such as water. The correlated use of NCT and XCT for geomechanics and geotechnics research is in its infancy. To this date, very few experiments have been carried out that combine both techniques, and none have been used to investigate geomaterial-structure interaction. This paper presents the first correlative NCT-XCT imaging study of pile installation. A scaled model pile was installed in an unsaturated intact chalk cylinder and in-situ NCT and ex-situ XCT synchrotron-based imaging was applied consecutively. Chalk was used because the behaviour of displacement piles installed in this material is still subject to considerable uncertainty. Results reveal for the first time the interaction between installation-induced changes in chalk density and water distribution variations, with evidence of water displacement into the densified material in the vicinity of the installed pile. A straightforward method for correlative bulk density-moisture content determination from NCT-XCT images of geomaterials are presented and their limitations discussed.

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e-pub ahead of print date: 24 August 2022
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Thomas Telford Ltd.
Keywords: Chalk, Micro-CT, piles & piling, soil/structure interaction

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 472051
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/472051
ISSN: 0016-8505
PURE UUID: 1d2477ae-9777-46d6-8bb8-88e782fbbbbd
ORCID for Fernando Alvarez Borges: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-6940-9918

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Date deposited: 24 Nov 2022 17:47
Last modified: 23 Mar 2024 05:05

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Contributors

Author: Fernando Alvarez Borges ORCID iD
Author: Genoveva Burca
Author: Robert C. Atwood
Author: Andrew James
Author: Mark Wolstenholme
Author: Sharif Ahmed

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