Experimental study on mechanical properties of steel - sand interface

The interface between steel and sand can be regard as a steel-sand system, and its mechanical properties have an important role in many geotechnical applications. The mechanical properties of various steel-sand interfaces classified by sand mean particle size D50 were investigated through interface shear tests. The results show that for a given steel-sand interface, the peak strength of the interface increase with increasing axial pressure. As the D50 value increases, the cohesions for steel-sand interfaces decrease, while the friction angles of the interfaces first increase and then decrease. In the process of shearing, the shrinkage of steel-sand interface occurs, mainly due to the broken of sand particles. The decrease in interface friction coefficients due to an increase in axial pressure was observed. Particle size distribution has a significant effect on the interface friction coefficient of steel-sand interface. When the average particle size D50 changes from 0.1 mm to 0.47 mm, the friction coefficient of steel-sand interface increases by 134%-161%