Art in soil mechanics
Stand: 22.11.2024
As part of the work at the Institute of Geotechnics and Construction Management, large amounts of data are constantly being generated. These are not only relevant to research, especially in the form of images, but have also been decorating the Institute's corridors since March 2023 under the title “On the fascination of soil mechanics”.
This page is intended to provide the subject-related aspect of art. For this reason, brief information on the structures depicted is provided in each case and the relevant research project in which the data or images were created is linked. If you are interested or have specific questions, please do not hesitate to contact the person in charge.
Investigation of drainage and irrigation processes in unsaturated Hamburg sand using X-ray Computed Tomography (CT)
The greyscale images provide insights into the hydraulic behaviour of our model soil “Hamburg sand” during cyclic dewatering and irrigation. They allow a quantitative investigation of the capillary effects that occur in the pore space of sand during the interaction of air, water and solid surfaces (dark grey: air, grey: water, light grey: solid (sand)).
Project: Marius Milatz' habilitation project in framework of the DFG Research Training Group GRK 2462 “Processes in natural and technical particle-fluid systems (PintPFS)”
Mikrofossils from a water depth of 495 m
The image shows microfossils from a soil sample taken at a water depth of 495 metres on the continental slope west of Mallorca. The soil sample was taken with a polarization microscope.
Project: The investigations were carried out as part of the DFG-funded research project “Investigation of gas migration as a TRIggering mechanism for Submarine landslides on COntinental slopes (TRISCO)”.
The clay mineral Kaolinite under a scanning electron microscope
Project: Investigation of adhesion between clays and flat metal surfaces
Stress chains of cemented sands
The contours display the intergranular stress transmission, as predicted by image based FE simulations. As already presented by studies at the grain scale, the results output highlights that grain contact is the main mechanism of granular matter to bear loading.
Project: Numerical simulation of partially cemented sand in the stagnation domain
Coated sand grains during wetting process
ESEM images of coated sand grains during wetting process induced by water vapour. (a) is the beginning of the observed time, while (h) is the end of it.
Project: Investigation of functionalized particles in the framework of the DFG Research Training Group “Processes in natural and technical particle-fluid systems (PintPFS)”
Investigation of capillary collapse in unsaturated granular soils
Falling soil particles during the determination of grain size distribution and sphericity using the camsiser (left). Image of a vertical slice of a soil sample during an in situ collapse experiment using Computed Tomography (CT) and neutron tomography at the Institut-Laue Langevin (ILL, Grenoble) (right).
Project: Capillary effects in particle-fluid systems: Investigation of capillary collapse of partially saturated granular soils within the DFG Research Training Group GRK 2462/1 “Processes in natural and engineered particle-fluid systems (PintPFS)”
Reconstruction errors in Computed Tomography (CT)
Top: Ring artefact
Bottom from left to right: Boundary effects, ring artefact, metal artefact / beam-hardening
Created in 2019 during Dennis Heinrich's master thesis
Soil samples of different materials
Sheared samples of different soils in triaxial tests
Link to the soil mechanics research laboratory