A Study on the Law of Ring-Shear Band Evolution

Abstract

A separate-bottom Couette cell is used to carry out ring-shear tests on sand and hydrate, and the evolution of shear bands is recognized using the tracer method. Based on experimental verification, a numerical simulation method is applied to study the shear band variation law with the height and strength of the sample. Analyzing the distribution of stress and strain gives a dimensionless number (c+ρgH·tgφ)H/αGL that affects the characteristics of the shear band, which indicates that the evolution direction and form of the shear band are controlled by the stiffness ratio of strength to load. Furthermore, the dimensionless law of the height and width of the shear band is given quantitatively.

Keywords

• Couette cell
• shear band
• stiffness ratio