Displacement-Softening Constitutive Model for Geosynthetic Interfaces

Mohamed G. Arab, Edward Kavazanjian, Jr., Patrick J. Fox, Jason D. Ross

In the proceedings of: GEO2011: 64th Canadian Geotechnical Conference, 14th Pan-American Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, 5th Pan-American Conference on Teaching and Learning of Geotechnical Engineering

Session: Geoenvironmental Engineering

ABSTRACT: A displacement-softening constitutive model has been developed to model the cyclic shear load-deformation behaviour of textured geomembrane/geosynthetic clay liner (GMX/GCL) interfaces. The displacement-softening formulation is based on the assumption that the strength reduction at the interface can be related to the cumulative relative shear displacement. This model was developed based on the results of cyclic shear tests on GMX/GCL interfaces. The constitutive model has been implemented in a finite-difference software package for solution of geotechnical problems. The performance of the constitutive model compares well with the experimental data, showing a progressive degradation in shear strength of the interface with increasing cumulative displacement in uniform cyclic tests. More research is needed to test the performance of the model for the case of non-uniform cyclic loading.

RÉSUMÉ: nterface de comportement avec radoucissement est que la réduction de la e au cumul du cisaillement relatif. Cette loi de comportement avec radoucissement a été développée au vu des résultats bentonitiques. La loi de comportement a été intégrée dans un model numérique aux différences finies pour la résolution de problèmes géomécaniques. Les résultats obtenus avec le model numérique se comparent bien aux résultats expérimentaux, indiquant une réduction progressive de la résistance au déplacement total performance de la loi de comportement pour chargements cycliques non uniformes.

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