Modeling of initial intense contraction in sand-structure interfaces

For many geotechnical engineering structures, the bearing capacity and load-deformation response depend on the stress-relative displacement behavior of interfaces in the contact area with surrounding soil. This issue may become of paramount importance considering that many of the existing interface constitutive models reveal remarkable limitations in the simulation of the intense contraction observed in the initial stage of shearing. In this research note, a proper state dependent constitutive equation is introduced to improve this deficiency. Direct comparisons against experimental data and some of the recent interface models are presented to show the improvements achieved.