The role of abrasion in cyclically sheared soil-structure interfaces

Pettey, Angus; Heron, Charles M.

Abstract

A limiting factor in the drive to deliver performance-based design is the lack of knowledge regarding the constitutive behaviour of soil-structure interfaces, particularly in the case of cyclic loading. A series of experiments were undertaken using both a traditional interface shear apparatus (shearing a large body of soil grains over a structural interface) and a novel single-particle interface shear apparatus (involving shearing a single grain over a structural interface). In both cases the soil was sheared across the interface in a cyclical manner (more than 1500 cycles per test). For the traditional apparatus, a clear change in soil particle size distribution and abrasive wear of the structural interface occurs after many cycles. This change results in a significant increase of the interface friction ratio, which is the main parameter used in traditional design - increasing from approximately 0.2 (11°) to 0.7 (35°). The single-particle apparatus validated the results - also observing a significant increase in the friction ratio after many cycles. The novel interface behaviour presented in this paper may benefit improved interface constitutive models and consequently more economic and safer geotechnical designs.

Citation

Pettey, A., & Heron, C. M. (2023). The role of abrasion in cyclically sheared soil-structure interfaces. Géotechnique, 64(13), 1577-1589. https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.22.00326

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Apr 17, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Publication Date: Jun 16, 2023
• Deposit Date: Apr 21, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Apr 21, 2023
• Journal: Géotechnique
• Print ISSN: 0016-8505
• Electronic ISSN: 1751-7656
• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 64
• Issue: 13
• Pages: 1577-1589
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.22.00326
• Keywords: Soil-structure interaction; Particle-scale behaviour; Microscopy; Friction; Repeated loading
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/19787678
• Publisher URL: https://www.icevirtuallibrary.com/doi/abs/10.1680/jgeot.22.00326