Laminar Soil Container’s Performance Study for Dynamic Laboratory Tests: Comprehensive Review and Numerical Verification

Problem-solving in geotechnical engineering requires multiple types of laboratory tests, which may utilize static or dynamic methods. During dynamic tests, whether using a centrifuge in NG or a shaking table in 1G, a soil container is always required to ensure that the soil inside represents the free field case during dynamic loading. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the specifications of different types of soil containers in order to choose the most appropriate one. This study summarizes the specifications of different types of soil containers and provides insight into selecting the most suitable one for dynamic tests. Laminar soil containers have been shown to reflect the most similar performance of the soil sample to free field conditions, so this study reviews the specifications of existing setups in chronological order. To evaluate the performance of generally adopted mechanisms of movement for laminar containers, 3D numerical model analyses are performed in this study. The numerical evaluation suggests that the roller mechanism does not amplify the applied motion, while the flexible sealant may exhibit excessive deformations. This study offers valuable insights into geotechnical dynamic testing of soils in laboratory settings and serves as a guide for designing an enhanced laminar soil container.