Full 3D Displacement Measuring System for 3D Displacement Field of Soil around a Laterally Loaded Pile in Transparent Soil

Abstract

An improved three-dimensional (3D) displacement measuring system that uses the particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique was developed to measure the full 3D displacement fields around a laterally loaded pile in transparent soil. The reconstructive procedure of 3D displacement fields includes calculation of the two-dimensional (2D) displacement fields, interpolation of 2D displacements, reconstruction of 3D displacement vectors in the intersection points, and interpolation of 3D displacement in the unknown points. A supplementary particle test was conducted to verify the reconstruction of the three components of the displacement of the particles. A model test of a laterally loaded pile in transparent soil was performed to obtain the full 3D soil displacement fields around the pile. The results show that the magnitudes of the displacement vectors and the angles with respect to the x-axis between the displacement vectors obviously decreased not only as the depth increased but also as the distance from the edge of the pile increased. It is highlighted that the depth of the point with the maximum displacement was decreased with respect to the increase in distance from the edge of the pile. This study helps to better understand the interior soil behavior around a laterally loaded pile. The test demonstrates that the full 3D displacement system is suitable for monitoring soil–structure interaction.