Open Access

ARTICLE

Limit Load of Soil-Root Composites

Yang Pu¹, Xiang Zhihai¹, Hu Xiasong², Li Guorong², Zhu Haili², Mao XiaoqinCen², Zhangzhi^1,3

1 Department of Engineering Mechanics, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, P. R. China
2 Department of Geological Engineering, Qinghai University, Xining 810016, P. R. China
3 Corresponding author. Tel.: +86-10-62784015; E-mail: demczz@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn

Computers, Materials & Continua 2009, 10(2), 117-138. https://doi.org/10.3970/cmc.2009.010.117

Abstract

This paper studies the influence of root reinforcement on shallow soil protection by using Finite Element (FE) method. Taking the root-soil composite as a periodic material, the homogenization method is used to construct a Representative Volume Element (RVE) that consists of roots and soil. This RVE is discretized by a two-dimensional (2-D) FE mesh, while special formulation is established so that this model is capable of describing three-dimensional (3-D) deformations when the strain is invariant along the fiber axis. The important effect of debonding on the interface between the fiber and the matrix is also considered by using a special interface element. To verify the validity of the proposed computational model, triaxial tests were conducted, where the root-soil composite was subjected to axial and lateral pressures. Good agreement of limit loads has been achieved between the numerical and the experimental results.

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Keywords

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