Monotonic Behavior of Interface Shear Between Carbonate Sands and Steel

The characteristic of interface shear between carbonate sands and steel is important for the design of onshore/offshore foundations in coral reef deposit. By using an interface ring shear apparatus, the influences of particle size, normal stress, steel roughness and shear displacement on the interface shear strength were studied in this paper. During the tests, the particle movement localized in the deformation band was observed and the degree of particle breakage was evaluated. The test results showed that under the effect of large displacement interface shear (≥ 1 m), a significant particle breakage occurred in the thin zone near the interface, and the roughness of steel interface decreased accordingly. The relative smooth steel surface shows small interface friction angle without dilation phenomenon during shearing, while higher roughness leads to higher interface strength due to stress dilation. It was also found that there was a kind of particle size discontinuity in the shear zone. Particle breakage is main reason for the increase in interface friction angle in large displacement shear. A new dimensionless parameter was proposed to consider the influences of particle breakage and interface roughness on the mobilization of interface strength between sands and steel. It is recommended that the influence of fine particles embedded into steel interface should be considered in large displacement shear for carbonate sands.