Measurements taken on a historical dike in the Netherlands over one year showed that interaction with the atmosphere led to oscillation of the piezometric surface of about 0.7 m. The observation raised concerns about the long-term performance of similar dikes and promoted a deeper investigation of the response of the cover layer to increasing climatic stresses. An experimental and numerical study was undertaken, which included an investigation in the laboratory of the unsaturated behavior of a scaled replica of the field cover. A sample extracted from the top clayey layer in the dike was subjected to eight drying and wetting cycles in a HYPROP™ device. Data recorded during the test provide an indication of the delayed response with depth during evaporation and infiltration. The measurements taken during this continuous dynamic process were simulated by means of a finite element discretization of the time-dependent coupled thermohydraulic response. The results of the numerical simulations are affected by the way in which the environmental loads are translated into numerical boundary conditions. Here, it was chosen to model drying considering only the transport of water vapor after equilibrium with the room atmosphere, while water in the liquid phase was added upon wetting. The simulation was able to reproduce the water mass balance exchange observed during four complete drying–wetting cycles, although the simulated drying rate was faster than the observed one. The numerical curves describing suction, the amount of vapor and temperature are identical, confirming that vapor generation and its equilibrium is control the hydraulic response of the material. Vapor generation and diffusion depend on temperature; therefore, correct characterization of the thermal properties of the soil is of paramount importance when dealing with evaporation and related non-steady equilibrium states.@en

This paper investigates the potential of a compute-in-memory core based on optical Phase Change Materials (oPCMs) to speed up and reduce the energy consumption of the Matrix-Matrix-Multiplication operation. The paper also proposes a new data mapping for Binary Neural Networks (BNNs) tailored for our oPCM core. The preliminary results show a significant latency improvement irrespective of the evaluated network structure and size. The improvement varies from network to network and goes up to ~1053x.@en

Monitoring structural behavior of earth structures during construction and in service is a common practice done for safety reasons, consolidation control and maintenance needs. Several are the techniques available for measuring displacements, water pressures and total stresses, not only in these geotechnical structures but also at their foundations. Materials testing has been used for calibrating models for structural design and behavior prediction, and these models can be validated with instrumentation data as well. Relatively recent investigation on the behavior of these materials considering their degree of saturation focuses on monitoring the evolution of water content or suction as function of soil-atmosphere interaction, necessary to predict cyclic and/or accumulated displacements, and has huge potential to predict the impact of climate changes on the performance of existing geotechnical structures. This new need justifies the investment on developing sensors able to be used for in situ monitoring of water in the soils, such as those presented here. Testing and monitoring becomes even more important nowadays when, for sustainability purposes, traditional construction materials are replaced by other geo-materials with unknown behavior and long-term performance (mainly accumulated displacements). Existing experimental protocols and monitoring equipment are used for such cases, however new techniques must be developed to deal with particular behaviors. Three case studies are presented and discussion is made on monitoring equipment used and how monitored data helped understanding the behaviors observed.

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