Experimental study on the shear behavior of the interface between cushion materials and the concrete raft

Cushion is a layer of granular materials between the raft and the ground. The shear behavior of the interface between the cushion and the raft may influence the seismic performance of the superstructure. In order to quantify such influences, horizontal shear tests on the interfaces between different cushion materials and concrete raft under monotonic and cyclic loading were carried out. The vertical pressure P_v, material type and cushion thickness h_c were taken as variables. Conclusions include： 1） under monotonic loading, P_v is the most significant factor; the shear resistance P_（hmax） increases as P_v increases, but the normalized factor of resistance μ_n has an opposite tendency; 2） for the materials used in this study, μ_n varies from 0.40 to 0.70, the interface friction angle δ_s varies from 20° to 35°, while u_（max） varies from 3 mm to 15 mm; 3） under cyclic loading, the interface behavior can be abstracted as a ＂three-segment＂ back-bone curve, the main parameters include μ_n, the displacement u_1 and stiffness K_1 of the elastic stage, the displacement u_2 and stiffness K_2 of the plastic stage; 4） by observation and statistical analysis, the significance of different factors, together with values of K_1, K_2 and μ_n have been obtained.

Extracting compressive stress-strain curve based on stick-slip shear banding process in bulk metallic glasses

Based on the stick-slip process,an effective method to extract the stress-strain curve directly from the crosshead displacement-load raw data in compression of bulk metallic glasses was proposed.The method was tested in two bulk metallic glass samples with different plasticities and shear band morphologies.The extracted stress-strain curves were found to well resemble the stress-strain curve measured by a laser extensometer.In addition,the extracted curve could resolve fine structures of serrated flow much better than that measured by extensometer,thus facilitating the study of shear banding process.Results obtained by this method made the stick-slip dynamics of shear banding valid,and this method could be employed to obtain the real strain of small-sized metallic glass samples where extensometer cannot be applied.