Cyclic behaviour of sand-steel interfaces: Experimental investigation and numerical simulation with a bounding surface model

The first objective of this research program was to investigate the cyclic behaviour of sand-structure interfaces. To achieve this objective a series of monotonic and cyclic tests were performed using a simple shear type interface apparatus. The influence of the initial sand density, the number of cycles, the initial normal stress, and the amplitude of displacement on the shear stress mobilized at the interface, the normal displacement, and the amount of slip taking place at the interface were determined. The second objective of this research program was to model the behaviour of interfaces with a bounding surface plasticity model. The model formulated by Dafalias and Manzari (2004) for the behaviour of sand was used to simulate the behaviour of interfaces. A parametric study was conducted to analyze the sensitivity of the model simulations to changes in the model constants. In addition, the model predictions and the experimental results were compared