An Hydraulic Analogue Computer for Studying Diffusion Problems in Soil

• Published in: Géotechnique
• Main Author: Scott, Ronald F.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Thomas Telford Ltd. 1957
• Subjects: Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous); Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology; Arctic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1680/geot.1957.7.2.55; https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/pdf/10.1680/geot.1957.7.2.55

Synopsis Computing machines have become a familiar part of the modern world because of the need for practical, useful solutions to problems which are extremely difficult or impossible to solve mathematically. Such a need has arisen in the field of soil engineering, in areas where the foundation material is subject to freezing and thawing, situations in which heat transfer processes in the ground must be investigated. An analogue computing device has been constructed in the Civil and Sanitary Engineering Department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., U.S.A., for the U.S. Army Arctic Construction and Frost Effects Laboratory to deal with non-linear diffusion problems of this nature, and this Paper describes its design and operation. The use of the computer in the solution of consolidation problems. which are also diffusion phenomena, is briefly mentioned. Les machines à calculer ont acquis une grande popularié dans le monde moderne vu le besoin de solutions pratiques aux problèmes extrêmement difficiles ou impossibles à résoudre mathématiquement. Un pareil besoin s'est présenté. dans le domain de la géotechnique là où le matériel de fondation est soumis an cycle du gel et du dégel, problème qui requiert l'étude de la transmission de chaleur. Ce rapport décrit la construction et l'operation d'un appareil analogue à calculer qui a été construit pour solutionner de semblables problèmes diffusion non-rectilignes. L'emploi du calculateur aux solutions des problémes de consolidation, qui sont aussi des phénomènes de diffusion, est brièvement mentionné.