Affiliations: Biofluidmechanics Laboratory, Universitätsmedizin
Berlin, Charité, Spandauer Damm 130, 14050, Berlin, Germany | Department of Architecture, Technical University
Berlin, Straße des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
Abstract: Some civil engineering projects require the injection of granular
matter such as sand into the ground. However, granular matter resists pumping
through tubes and thus it is difficult to inject such matter into the ground.
With the help of several methods forces and movements of grains were
visualized. Force chains and arches in a two dimensional granular matter model
were visualized with polarized light and photo-elastic material. The movement
of sand grains was visualized on a glass plate in a half-space ground model.
With the particle image velocimetry (PIV) method the vector field of the
movement and the field of the resulting shear rate were assessed. In this way a
new method for the injection of granular material, such as, sand into the
ground was devised. The method appears to be applicable to lift a building to
counter subsidence.
Keywords: Force chains, Injection of sand, Granular matter Flow, PIV, Subsidence
