1st Scientific Colloquium - Large Scale Testing (Linking Research and Industry)

Session

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Sep 14, 2026, 2:40 PM

Geb. 40.50 (Engler-Bunte Hörsaal) (KIT Campus Süd)

44. Large scale shear tests between pipe/cable segment and coarse fabric materials

Andrea Diambra (University of Bristol)

9/14/26, 2:40 PM

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

The presentation will focus on the development and application of a new medium-scale shear rig to investigate the interaction between subsea linear infrastructure and the soil to support the offshore energy sector. The rig incorporates a representative pipe or cable segment that can be subjected to axial or longitudinal shearing against a wide range of seabed conditions, spanning from fine...

21. Robotic Air Pluviation for Large-Scale Sand Specimens

Peña Carlos (IBF-KIT)

9/14/26, 3:00 PM

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

For coarse-grained granular materials, manual specimen preparation is inherently associated with variability, particularly with respect to the density. This effect is expected to be even more pronounced for large-scale specimens, where the larger volume and increased handling requirements can further amplify density variations and substantially increase labor intensity.
The Robotic Automated...

15. Preparation of large sand samples using the air pluviation method – investigation of factors influencing homogeneity

Michael Niebler (Technische Universität München, Zentrum Geotechnik, Lehrstuhl und Prüfamt für Grundbau, Bodenmechanik, Felsmechanik und Tunnelbau)

9/14/26, 4:00 PM

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Air pluviation is a well-established technique for preparing sand specimens for model and laboratory tests. In this method, dry sand is discharged from a hopper onto a perforated plate that controls the rate of bulk flow. Below this plate, layers of wire mesh or parts of similar geometry are installed to distribute the grains as uniformly as possible across the specimen surface. The distance...

24. Development of a Large-Scale Geotechnical Calibration Chamber for Controlled Cone Penetration Testing

Axel Wolfsteller (Federal Waterways Engineering and Research Institute (BAW), Referat Geotechnik Nord, Abteilung Geotechnik)

9/14/26, 4:20 PM

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Cone penetration tests (CPT) are widely used as a cost-effective and rapidly deployable method for ge-otechnical site investigation. However, the derivation of geotechnical design parameters from CPT data remains insufficiently standardized within the current German framework (DIN 1997-2:2010-10;DIN 4020:2010-12). Existing empirical correlations are often restricted to specific soil types and...

9. Large-scale shear tests to determine the shear parameters of existing earthfill dams

Mr Florian Landstorfer (VERBUND Hydro Power GmbH), Roman Markiewicz (TU Wien, Institut für Geotechnik)

9/14/26, 4:40 PM

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

Development of large - scale testing and specimen preparation

For many old structures like earthfill dams, there is a lack of information about the geotechnical parameters. Often, it is not documented how the values for friction angle and cohesion have been determined, especially the boundary conditions, e.g. the used test apparatus, the modification of the grading curve etc. Normally, new calculations have to be performed based on newly verified...