Aspects that condition physical modeling in predicting the behavior of structures real geotechnics

Abstract

The use of scaled-down models to reproduce the behavior of geotechnical structures is the most widely accepted technique today to properly model a geotechnical problem. The most complete methodology to adequately model this type of scenario is the geotechnical centrifuge, which allows assembling models reduced to the necessary scale and induces in the model a gravity field proportional to the selected scale. According to the established scaling laws, different quantities can be extrapolated from the reduced model to a full-scale structure. However, several aspects that must be considered in detail affect the results, so that they must be thoroughly analyzed so that the dispersion of results between the measurements and the expected is as small as possible, or, otherwise, it can be identify with reliability which was the aspect that most influenced the high dispersion of the results. This research describes these effects exactly, so that they are taken into account when this type of prediction analysis is carried out on geotechnical structures.