Effect of Loading Boundary Conditions in Plane Strain Mechanical Response and Local Deformations in Sand Specimens
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146, Issue 9
Abstract
This study investigates the effect of loading boundary conditions on the mechanical behavior of cuboidal sand specimens during plane strain (PS) testing. Deformation-controlled PS compression tests were performed with flexible boundaries (FB) on varying densities of sand. Further, rigid-frictional and rigid-lubricated boundary triaxial compression tests were performed on cuboidal specimens with aspect ratios of and , respectively. The results of PS testing with the loading boundary of different relative rigidity indicate a significant change in the observed response. The relatively rigid boundaries along the loading direction tend to overestimate the stress ratio compared with those with FBs. The FB-PS tests in the present study reveal no softening behavior, unlike those exhibited in conventional triaxial tests with rigid end boundaries. The imposed kinematic constraints for PS tests resulted in higher friction angle values compared with the triaxial tests. Local strain evolution and various deformation modes were analyzed using digital image analysis, which provides ensuing insights regarding its relation to the macro-scale global material response.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all of the data, models, or code generated or used during this study are available from the corresponding author by request.
Acknowledgments
Financial support from IIT Gandhinagar is gratefully acknowledged. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions presented herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of IIT Gandhinagar. The authors acknowledge the assistance offered by graduate student Mr. N. Kantesaria in conducting some of the additional tests on the sand specimens.
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Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 146 • Issue 9 • September 2020
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©2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.
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Received: Apr 18, 2019
Accepted: May 7, 2020
Published online: Jun 30, 2020
Published in print: Sep 1, 2020
Discussion open until: Nov 30, 2020
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