Evaluation of the Applicability of a Digital Twin-Based Stability Assessment Through Model Experiments

초록

Digital twin (DT) technology links physical structures with virtual models to reduce uncertainty and support prediction and decision-making, and recent applications have begun to emerge in geotechnical engineering, where material heterogeneity and uncertainties in boundary conditions are significant. This study proposes a DT-based stability assessment procedure to improve the consistency between stability analyses and measured responses of geotechnical structures, using laboratory model tests on a slope and a retaining wall as a preliminary step prior to field implementation. In the proposed framework, an initial finite element (FE) model is generated from iPad LiDAR scans of the model geometry, with point-cloud preprocessing carried out in CloudCompare and AutoCAD; incremental loading analyses are then performed in Abaqus, the elastic modulus E, internal friction angle phi, and cohesion c are automatically calibrated via a Python-Abaqus coupled Bayesian optimization scheme so that the computed horizontal displacements match those measured by digital image correlation (DIC) and laser displacement transducers, and finally shear strength reduction (SSR) analyses are conducted on the calibrated model to evaluate stage-wise factors of safety (FoS). In this way, a cyclic DT workflow that links experiment, analysis, calibration, and stability evaluation is established. The calibrated analyses showed good qualitative agreement with the DIC displacement fields and the measured horizontal displacements, and the FoS values obtained from SSR were comparable to those from limit equilibrium methods (LEM), confirming the validity of the proposed calibration-analysis procedure. These results demonstrate that the LiDAR-based and measurement-based calibration scheme can effectively reproduce the actual behavior of geotechnical structures and suggest its potential extension toward real-time monitoring and hazard-mitigation-oriented DT applications.

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