ABSTRACT
Over the past decades centrifuge use in geotechnical physical modeling has grown significantly. The physical modeling community has coupled advanced imaging technologies and sophisticated analysis tools to illuminate soil behavior within complex experiments. Visualization of soil settlements, soil-structure system interaction and underground failure surfaces has provided novel insight to researchers and practitioners. The geotechnical centrifuge facility at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) is equipped with several miniature high definition cameras and one overhead high-speed camera. The on-board cameras were previously used to monitor the progress of an experiment and ensure the safe operation of in-flight equipment. Motion tracking software has transformed the cameras role from monitoring to data acquisition. During highly dynamic tests, the high-speed camera can be employed to acquire high frame rate videos of moving soil or objects. This paper describes some of the applications of image capture and analysis techniques in RPI experiments.
