Influence of Surface Roughness and Particle Characteristics on Soil–Structure Interactions: A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

The study of soil–structure interface behavior contributes to the fundamental understanding of engineering performance and foundation design optimization. Previous research studies the effect of soil characteristics and surface roughness property on the soil–material interface mechanism via interface shear test. The reviews utilizing past established laboratory studies and more recent tests based on state-of-the-art technologies reveal that surface roughness significantly affects interface shear performances in the studies of soil–structure interactions, especially in peak shear strength development. A preliminary but original investigative study by the authors was also carried out using a sophisticated portable surface roughness gauge to define the material surface roughness properties in order to study the interface behavior parametrically. Additionally, using the authors’ own original research findings as a proof-of-concept innovation, particle image velocimetry (PIV) technology is applied using a digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera to capture sequential images of particle interactions in a custom-built transparent shear box, which validate the well-established four-stage soil shearing model. The authors also envisaged that machine learning, e.g., artificial neural network (ANN) and Bayesian inference method, amongst others, as well as numerical modeling, e.g., discrete element method (DEM), have the potential to also promote research advances on interface shear mechanisms, which will assist in developing a greater understanding in the complex study of soil–structure interactions.

The Removal of Phosphate from Aqueous Solutions by Sepiolite/ZrO₂ Composites: Adsorption Behavior and Mechanism

“…It is possible that the grafting is more pronounced at higher temperatures, so the quantity of the remaining alkoxide is lower in the case of Sep-ZrII and, thus, the amount of agglomerates. The SEM micrographs of the Sep-ZrI and Sep-ZrII samples (Figure 3) show the presence of fibrous sepiolite particles and aggregates of fine of subangular particles [40], obviously zirconium oxide/hydroxide. Although the Zr content in the samples is approximately the same, the aggregates of Zr-based particles seem more abundant in Sep-ZrI than in Sep-ZrII (Figure 3).…”