The guidelines of the BPC are given below.
Detailed rules for the contest will be made available soon.
Contestant teams
The contestant teams may consist of one or more members.
An individual can only be involved in a single team.
Except for category winners, all participants will be kept anonymous. For the publication of the predictions, teams will be identified by an inscription number which will be informed to the team members in advance.
There is no limit in the number of members of a team, but teams with more than one member will designate a corresponding author for communication.
The contestant teams will be required to subscribe to one of the following groups:
a. Researchers
b. Practicing Engineers
Individuals from TU Darmstadt or other organisations who have witnessed the tests are not allowed to participate.
Teams will be required to fill a template document with a brief description of the methods used for their predictions. All methods (empirical, analytical or numerical) are welcome.
Input data
Detail input data can be downloaded below.
Provided input data includes:
- Detailed description of the test setup and methods.
- Construction drawings and relevant photographs, specifying all necessary geometry and dimensions.
- CPT profiles of the sand pit before testing.
- Sand characterisation tests, including particle size distribution, oedometric compression tests, drained and undrained monotonic triaxial tests (with different confining pressures and sand densities), and cyclic triaxial tests.
Predicted Quantities
The contest will have two categories: “monotonic pile test” and “cyclic pile test”.
All contestant teams must submit a prediction for the monotonic test. Predictions for the cyclic test are optional.
The participants are required to predict the following experimental results:
Monotonic test
Stage 1: Horizontal reaction force, vertical and horizontal displacements of two points of the pile head, and pile longitudinal strains at given imposed displacements between 0 and 20 % of the pile OD.
Stage 3: Recoverable horizontal displacement after unloading.
Cyclic test (Optional)
Stage 2: For the first cyclic loading package: accumulated vertical and horizontal displacements of two points of the pile head, and pile longitudinal strains after 1, 10, 100, 1000 and 10000 cycles.
Stage 3: Recoverable displacement after the first complete unloading.
Stage 4: For the second cyclic loading package: accumulated vertical and horizontal displacements of two points of the pile head, and pile longitudinal strains after specific 1, 10, 100, and 1000 cycles.
Evaluation
For each quantity, the error is defined as the absolute value of the difference between the measured value and the predicted value.
The winner team for each category will be determined based on a single overall error indicator to be calculated as a weighed summation of the partial prediction errors. The error on the predicted values for Stage 1 of the Monotonic Tests, and Stages 2 and 4 of the Cyclic Tests will account for most the final scores. The exact procedure to calculate the overall error will be informed on 27 May 2024.
The scores of all teams will be published identified only by the inscription number. The experimental data will be published simultaneously, in order to allow the teams to verify the calculation of the scores.
The winning teams will be publicly announced in the event website and through social media channels. The results of the blind prediction event will be presented at the 5th International Symposium on Frontiers in Offshore Geotechnics (ISFOG) to be held in Nantes, France, from June 9-13, 2025. We are currently exploring the options to also let the winning teams present their approach on that prestigious conference.
Analysis and publication of the BPC
- The Organising Committee will prepare an international journal paper comparing and analysing the received predictions, with the goal of assessing the state of art and the state of practice. By participating the BPC, the team members authorise the use of the submitted data for that purpose. The participants BPC will not be invited as co-authors of this paper.
- The contestant teams are free to publish their predictions in separate papers using the experimental data provided, as long as the source is properly acknowledged.