Research on the application of laser camera to support LVDT in geotechnical laboratory work

Abstract

Laboratory tests are essential for analyzing the behavior of geotechnical materials and models. Two of the most common methods for measuring displacement in laboratory tests are Dial indicator and Linear variable differential transformer (LVDT). However, using these equipments has some limitations, such as measuring only discrete points, and Dial indicators require surfaces to be measured must have a certain hardness. This feature is a significant limitation because geomaterials are not usually rigid masses. To overcome these limitations, the authors studied using laser cameras to support the LVDTs and the Dial indicators. Laser cameras offer high sampling rates, but their accuracy needs to be carefully investigated as they are mainly used to measure large distances. In this paper, we show how to investigate the accuracy of laser cameras with reliable, intuitive observations, reviewing recent studies on using laser cameras in laboratory tests. Experiments, including their advantages, limitations and potential applications: The potential application of laser cameras to measure distances can be evaluated instead of LVDT. We also discuss the challenges and future directions of using laser cameras in laboratory testing. The results showed that laser cameras could improve the accuracy and efficiency of laboratory tests and may become a preferred method for displacement measurement in the future.