The project is funded by Wikimedia Germany, Stifterverband and the Volkswagen Foundation (https://de.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wikiversity:Fellow-Programm_Freies_Wissen). Beside the blog of the project OpenGeoLab.com, you can find here on git-hub an open lab notebook documenting and tracking the progress of the project.
Please feel free to contact me via e-mail (Henning dot Stutz at ifg dot uni-kiel dot de), twitter (@HansHenning_St).
In many soil mechanics and geotechnical research laboratories worldwide, a large number of laboratory instruments are available. These instruments have often been improved and/or developed through elaborate studies, projects and doctoral theses. This results in a large number of data that is seldom or only very limitedly published. Due to this fact, the test equipment is difficult to reproduce and the data collected cannot be reproduced. This is due to the availability of the device (often unique or the reproduction of a unique piece of equipment), as well as the availability of the unclear configurations and controls. This is accompanied by inadequately described test protocols, all of which lead to data sets containing a large number of so-called "dark data" and make it difficult for interested scientists to use these data e. g. for the validation of numerical models. This leads to the fact that only data collected in your This means data reproducibility and thus comparability is rarely given. If these data are then to be used for model development of any kind, these data can often only be used once, since scientists outside their own laboratory lack the information described above.
The initial project focus on device to study the contact shear behaviour of soils. This is an object of investigation that plays a very important role (e.g. construction pits, offshore wind foundations, tunnel linings, energy piles). Shear behaviour in such a contact zone is dominated by many different influencing factors, such as shear rate, over-consolidation pressure, water saturation, consolidation effects, roughness of the structural surface and fine-grained fractions in the soil are just a few of them. It can be assumed that the complex coupled mechanical processes take place on the contact surface between the structure and the ground, just as they do in the soil itself. These experiments are subject to a continuous need for further research on the one hand, and the use of new materials on the other hand. The project idea is to design such an experimental device based on three already existing experimental facilities and to implement it ready for operation in a laboratory by means of the possible support of the Fellow Program Open Science (Wikimedia, Stifterverband, Volkswagen Foundation). The difference to the conventional method is that the entire development of the design drawings, control software etc. is freely available (keyword "Open Methods") in order to give interested scientists the possibility to create an exact replica and to achieve reproducible results and data without much longer time expenditure. The pure construction is, but only the beginning of a research opportunity that is freely accessible. The device developed within the Fellowship will be made available for experiments free of charge (keyword Open Lab) after the development, so that it can be used by other researchers if interested. A user policy will be drawn up (soon after calibration of the device) in which rules will have to be laid down on how the data collected with the device will be made freely accessible in order to enable not only the use but also the most sustainable use of the data. The aim is to create data records that are as comprehensive as possible and enable subsequent use of the data. The data thus obtained can be used for the development of models, supplementing own data sets and/or experimental comparative studies.