In this study, decomposition and densification behavior of PbAlNbO3-PbZrTiO3 (PAN-PZT) ceramics were characterized for powder injection molding process. Thermal gravity analysis and in-situ dilatometer experiment were carried out to construct master curve. Based on master curve model approach, one-combined master debinding curve (MDC) and master sintering curve (MSC) were constructed for piezoelectric PAN-PZT ceramics. Derived curves matched well with the experimental data. Process optimization and material development will be conducted based on characterization of master curve parameters.

The presence of soft soil of river and organic genesis in the basement of road embankments creates problems related to their high deformability. Difficult to assess water permeability, affecting the course of the consolidation and settlement process, requires field studies, such as dilatometer tests. In engineering practice, there are many factors that can affect the basement consolidation process, but they are not simply applied to theoretical models. In many cases, only the observational method allows the selected computational approach to be applied to a specific engineering problem. For this reason, it is one of the approaches strongly emphasized by Eurocode 7. The article presents an example of the application of a temporary load from heavy construction traffic to the consolidation of soft soil under service roads with verification of the subsoil parameters using the dilatometer tests. A horizontal layer of weak soil, loaded with a vertical external load caused by temporary traffic, was assumed for the calculations. For such an arrangement, the classical solution of uniaxial Terzaghi’s consolidation with the water flow in the vertical direction was applied. A computational analysis of the consolidation time and maximum settlement values was performed.

Increasingly complex design systems require an individual approach when determining the necessary design parameters. As soils are characterized by strong strain-dependent nonlinearity, test methods used to characterize the subsoil should be carefully selected, in terms of their "sensitivity" as well as suitability for the analyzed type of problem. When direct measurements are not available, while design calculation models require specific parameters, indirect parameter estimation may be used. This approach requires calibration and validation of empirical correlations, based on well documented database of tests and case studies. One of the parameters often used, when analyzing soil-structure interaction problems, is the shear stiffness of the soil and its strain-dependent degradation. The aim of the article is to present the procedure for description and evaluation of soil stiffness based on field tests (CPTU, DMT and SDMT) and a large number of reference curves obtained from laboratory tests (TRX) for selected soil types. On the basis of the given algorithm, it is possible to obtain a stiffness module G0 value at any level of deformation, based on in-situ tests.