Abstract
Measurement of soil parameters, such as moisture, density and density change, can provide important information for evaluating the stability of earthwork structures and for structural health monitoring. To ensure the stability of flood protection dikes, erosion at the contact zones of different soil zones must be avoided. In this work we propose the use of impedance spectroscopy to measure changes in density and volume caused by contact erosion. Erosion leads generally to a volume decrease in the contact zones between soils with different grain sizes and, consequently, to cavities in the dike structure. For this purpose, a proctor mould was developed for emulating contact erosion and the realisation of impedance measurements. Experimental investigations show a correlation between volume change of the soils in the proctor mould and impedance value. For a volume change of soil in the range of approximately 1.5% to 5.3%, an impedance change arises in the range of 17.2% to 29.8%. With several investigations we proof, that it is possible to detect material transport by impedance spectroscopy.
Highlights
Due to anthropogenic climate change, flood events are statistically increasing worldwide
We propose to determine the density or density change by measuring the complex dielectric constant of the soil followed by density calculation based on an equivalent circuit model
The results show that the current sensor set-up can detect material transport by means of impedance spectroscopy
Summary
Due to anthropogenic climate change, flood events are statistically increasing worldwide. Since the current criteria for avoiding erosion [1] have been determined empirically and are not applicable in many cases, a very conservative approach is often taken during planning This can lead to inefficient and uneconomic designs. From both engineering and user’s points of view, it would be desirable to estimate the empirical behaviour of contact erosion and suffosion, and to be able to test material transport characteristics in a laboratory setting. This would allow for project-related assessments of the material transport risk
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