Shear Band Formation in Plane Strain Experiments of Sand
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 126, Issue 6
Abstract
A series of biaxial (plane strain) experiments were conducted on three sands under low (15 kPa) and high (100 kPa) confining pressure conditions to investigate the effects of specimen density, confining pressure, and sand grain size and shape on the constitutive and stability behavior of granular materials. The three sands used in the experiments were fine-, medium-, and coarse-grained uniform silica sands with rounded, subangular, and angular grains, respectively. Specimen deformation was readily monitored and analyzed with the help of a grid pattern imprinted on the latex membrane. The overall stress-strain behavior is strongly dependent on the specimen density, confining pressure, sand grain texture, and the resulting failure mode(s). That became evident in different degrees of softening responses at various axial strains. The relationship between the constitutive behavior and the specimens' modes of instability is presented. The failure in all specimens was characterized by two distinct and opposite shear bands. It was found that the measured dilatancy angles increase as the sand grains' angularities and sizes increase. The measured shear band inclination angles are also presented and compared with classical Coulomb and Roscoe solutions.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Arthur, J., Dunstan, T., Al-Ani, Q., and Assadi, A. (1977). “Plastic deformation and failure in granular media.” Géotechnique, London, 27(1), 53–74.
2.
Bolton, M. (1986). “The strength and dilatancy of sands.” Géotechnique, London, 36(1), 65–78.
3.
Finno, R., Harris, W., Mooney, M., and Viggiani, G. (1997). “Shear bands in plane strain compression of loose sand.” Géotechnique, London, 47(1), 149–165.
4.
Han, C., and Drescher, A. (1993). “Shear bands in biaxial tests on dry coarse sand.” Soils and Found., Tokyo, 33(1), 118–132.
5.
Image processing and analysis software; version 1.57. (1992). National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.
6.
Ko, H.-Y., and Davidson, L. W. (1973). “Bearing capacity of footings in plane strain.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 99(1), 1–23.
7.
Lee, K. (1970). “Comparison of Plane Strain and Triaxial Tests on Sand.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 96(3), 901–923.
8.
Marachi, N., Duncan, J., Chan, C., and Seed, H. ( 1981). “Plane-strain testing of sand.” Laboratory shear strength of soils, ASTM STP 740, R. N. Yong and F. C. Townsend, eds., ASTM, West Conshohocken, Pa., 294–302.
9.
Peric, D., Runesson, K., and Sture, S. (1992). “Evaluation of plastic bifurcation for plane strain versus axisymmetry.”J. Engrg. Mech., ASCE, 118(3), 512–524.
10.
Peric, D., Runesson, K., and Sture, S. (1993). “Prediction of plastic localization using MRS-Lade Model.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 119(4), 639–661.
11.
Peters, J., Lade, P., and Bro, A. ( 1988). “Shear band formation in triaxial and plane strain tests.” Advanced triaxial testing of soil and rock, ASTM STP 977, R. Donaghe, R. Chaney, and M. Silver, eds., ASTM, West Conshohocken, Pa., 604–627.
12.
Roscoe, K. (1970). “The influence of strains in soil mechanics.” Géotechnique, London, 20(2), 129–170.
13.
Tatsuoka, F., Sakamoto, M., Kawamura, T., and Fukushima, S. (1986). “Strength and deformation characteristics of sand in plane strain compression at extremely low pressures.” Soils and Found., Tokyo, 26(1), 65–84.
14.
Tatsuoka, F., Nakamura, S., Huang, C., and Tani, K. (1990). “Strength anisotropy and shear band direction in plane strain tests of sand.” Soils and Found., Tokyo, 30(1), 35–54.
15.
Vardoulakis, I. (1980). “Shear band inclination and shear modulus of sand in biaxial tests.” Int. J. Numer. and Analytical Methods in Geomech., 4, 103–119.
16.
Vardoulakis, I., Goldscheider, M., and Gudehus, G. ( 1978). “Formation of shear bands in sand bodies as a bifurcation problem.” Int. J. Numer. and Analytical Methods in Geomech., Swets & Zeitlinger, Netherlands, 2, 99–128.
17.
Vardoulakis, I., and Graf, B. (1985). “Calibration of constitutive models for granular materials using data from biaxial experiments.” Géotechnique, London, 35(3), 299–317.
18.
Vermeer, P. (1982). “A simple shear band analysis using compliances.” Proc., IUTAM Conf. on Deformation and Failure of Granular Mat., Balkema, Delft, 493–499.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 126 • Issue 6 • June 2000
Pages: 495 - 503
History
Received: Jun 7, 1999
Published online: Jun 1, 2000
Published in print: Jun 2000
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.