The guidelines of the BPC are given below.

Detailed rules for the contest are made available below.

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.

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 displacements of two points of the pile head, and pile longitudinal strains at given imposed displacements.

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 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.

Stage 4: Total number of cycles in the second cyclic loading package.

• The quality of the predictions in each category (monotonic and cyclic tests) will be quantified as a single scalar value, ranging from 0 (the lowest possible quality) to 100 (the highest possible quality).
• The expressions used to obtain theses scores are embedded in the Excel file provided for submitting the predictions (GEOLAB-BPC_00-Prediction&ScoringSheet), specifically in the worksheets “Scoring-Monotonic test” and “Scoring-Cyclic test.”
• For each considered quantity, the error is defined as the absolute value of the difference between the measured value and the predicted value. To allow comparison of the error in different variables, the partial prediction errors are adimensionalised and scaled. Moreover, different weighing factors are applied to displacement and strain errors.
• The prediction quality is evaluated separately for monotonic and cyclical tests, with a winner team to be identified in each category.
• Scores for all teams will be published, identified only by inscription number. Experimental data will be released simultaneously, allowing teams to verify the score calculations.

• 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.

Updated information on the BPC will be published in the event website until the announcement of the winner teams. If you would like to receive the updates via email, please sign in here for the BPC mailing list.

To participate in the BPC, teams must complete the provided templates: a spreadsheet for their predictions and a document outlining their methodology. Both documents should then be submitted by email to geolab_bpc@geotechnik.tu-darmstadt.de .

The deadline for submissions is September 30, 2024.

18 Mar 2024: First announcement and newsletter registration opening

6 May 2024: Publication of supporting documentation on the test setup and sand characterisation.

27 May 2024 : Publication of detailed participation rules and prediction sheet.

15 Sep 2024 : Closure of the submission period

30 Sep 2024: Closure of the submission period

28 Oct 2024: Announcement of the BPC winners

9-13 Jun 2025: Public recognition of BPC winners in ISFOG2025