A study on the development of failures inside soil under the external force using CT technique

In this paper, an apparatus that can be fitted into the chamber of a medical CT was built to conduct geotechnical tests. Loading and shearing experiments were performed on the soil models that were built with a variety of materials. CT images have been taken on different cross-sections inside the specimens to monitor the internal failure development in soil continuously. The results of direct shear, horizontal and vertical loading tests are presented and discussed. It has been demonstrated that CT is a powerful non destructive and non invasive tool for geotechnical engineering analyses.