Local and Global Granular Mechanical Characteristics of Grain–Structure Interactions

The focus of this work is on systematically understanding the effects of packing density of the sand grains on both the internal and bulk mechanical properties for strip footing interacting with granular soil. The studies are based on particle image velocimetry (PIV) method, coupled with a high resolution imaging camera. This provides valuable new insights on the evolution of slip planes at grain-scale under different fractions of the ultimate load. Furthermore, the PIV based results are compared with Finite Element Method (FEM) simulations in which the experimentally characterised parameters and constitutive behaviour are fed as an input, and a good level of agreements are obtained. The reported results would serve to the practicing engineers, researchers and graduate students in unravelling the mechanics of granular soil at both local and global levels when they interact with structures. The outcomes would be beneficial not only to the geotechnical engineering community, but also to related disciplines dealing with granular materials such as materials processing, minerals and space exploration.