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Geotechnical Centrifuge Testing Center

Overview

  • Overview
  • Major Facility/Equipment
  • Applications
  • Examples of major tests
  • Staff

Geotechnical Centrifuge Testing Center

Geotechnical Centrifuge Testing Center
    • location
    • KAIST
      W16, KAIST, 291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34141
    • Director
    • Gye-Chun Cho
    • Contacts

    • TEL : +82-42-350-7202

      FAX : +82-42-350-7200

      Email : geocentrifuge@kaist.ac.kr

    • Major facility/equipment
    • Geotechnical centrifuge chamber, Model preparation area, Geotechnical centrifuge control room, Geotechnical centrifuge, 4DoF in-flight robot, Shaking table
    • Structural overview

    • Site area Approx. 1,980㎡

      Number of levels Five levels above ground with a basement level

      Building area 1,070㎡

      Gross floor area 3,328㎡

Overview of the Testing Facility

    • Vision

    • - Promoting development of innovative technologies in the field of geotechnical engineering

      - Safety assessment for large-scale geotechnical structure located in and out of Korea

      - Theoretical investigation in the field of geotechnical engineering with high uncertainty

      - Seismic performance testing utilizing shaking tables

    • Main functions

    • - Reproduction of stress condition for the ground and geotechnical structures through artificially providing gravitational acceleration

      - Simulating stress condition comparable to a ground depth of more than 100m

      - Simulating earthquake and dynamic load through centrifuge operation

      - Cyclic loading of shallow foundation, shear strength measurement and excavation using in-flight robot

      - Underground space excavation

      - Predicting subsidence for reclamation projects, and ground improvement testing

    • Features

    • - Providing various test opportunities for utilizing shaking table and 4DoF robot

Major Facility/Equipment

Geotechnical centrifuge chamber room

  • 11,500mm(D)×3,850mm(H) Circular safety wall

    Geotechnical centrifuge chamber room

Control room & Model preparation room

  • 11,500mm(D)×3,850mm(H) Circular safety wall

    11,500mm(D)×3,850mm(H) Circular safety wall

  • Model preparation room, Sand model preparation room, Clay model preparation room, Open-type model preparation room

    Model preparation room, Sand model preparation room, Clay model preparation room, Open-type model preparation room

Geotechinical centrifuge

  • Producing a model of large-scale geotechnical structure such as dams and slope, and simulating behavior similar to natural phenomena utilizing centrifugal force produced by rotating the model at high speed

    11,500mm(D)×3,850mm(H) Circular safety wall
    • Manufacturing company
    • ACTIDYN SYSTEMES SA (France)
    • Platform radius
    • 5.0m
    • Max. capacity
    • 240g-tons
    • Max. payload
    • 2,400kg up to 100g
    • Payload dimensions
    • 1.2m(L)×1.2m(W)×1.2m(H)
    • Max. acceleration
    • 130g @ 1,300kg payload

4DoF in-flight robot

  • Installed in the basket the geotechnical centrifuge equipment, and used for various tests such as material property evaluation, excavation, and cyclic loading of foundation in rotational states

    4DoF in-flight robot
4DoF in-flight robot
Specifications X Y Z θZ
Stoke 1.00m 0.65m 0.50m ±175˚
Max. Speed 50mm/s 50mm/s 50mm/s 5 ˚/s
Loading 1.0kN 1.0kN 5.0kN 5Nm

Shaking table

  • Installed in the arm section of the geotechnical centrifuge equipment, and producing the same behavior as the earthquake motion

    Shaking table
    • Max. payload
    • 700 kg (with robot)
    • Max. acceleration
    • 0.4g (in prototype scale)
    • Frequency range
    • 20 ~ 300 Hz
    • Platform dimensions
    • 0.65m×0.65m×0.65m

Other heavy equipment

  • Other heavy equipment1
  • Other heavy equipment2
  • Other heavy equipment3
  • Other heavy equipment4

Applications

Applications1
  • Performance based approach of large-scale ground and geotechnical structures
  • Simulation of natural disasters including floods and earthquakes
  • Soil-foundation-structure interaction problem
  • Shear wave velocity imaging of model ground
  • Offshore foundation installation and performance assessment
  • Deformational behavior and performance assessment of earth dams
  • Performance verification of ship impact protection for long span bridges
  • Issues related to geologic storage of carbon dioxide and gas hydrate

Centrifugal model test

  • Model test technique for behavior evaluation of geotechnical structure

  • Simulating stress conditions of deep depth ground utilizing centrifugal acceleration

    • - Geo-materials can produce different behaviors depending on in-situ stress condition.
    • - The geo-centrifuge is used to reproduce the same stress condition as structure for reliable model tests.

  • Evaluating behavior of prototype structure and observing the destruction process in extreme states

Centrifugal model test

Examples of major tests

  • Used for diverse research in the field of geotechnical engineering such as seismic risk assessment, soft ground behavior, and slope stability analysis
  • Assessment on foundation behavior of large-scale geotechnical structure
  • Evaluation of seismic behavior for various type of foundations
  • Safety performance evaluation of ship impact protection for long span bridges
  • Constructability and performance evaluation of offshore foundation and anchors of off-shore floating structure
  • Performance and seismic safety evaluation of earths structures, including dams and levees
  • The evaluation of deep excavation effect on surrounding ground
  • Simulation of soft ground improvement
  • Evaluation of behavior of geotechnical structure and failure behavior by blast loading
  • Migration evaluation of pollutants in ground
  • Examples of major tests1
  • Examples of major tests2
  • Examples of major tests3
  • Examples of major tests4
  • Examples of major tests5
  • Examples of major tests6

Staff

Staff
Name Position Duty Tel Email
Gye-Chun Cho Director General 042-350-3622 email
Tae-Hyuk Kwon Vice Director Planning 042-350-3628 email
Chan-Seon Lee Administrator Administrator 042-350-7202 email
Sung-Bok Lee Technician Test 042-350-7210 email
Yong-Hyung Kang Technician Test 042-350-7205 email
Dong-Geun Shin Technician Test 042-350-7205 email