DEM investigation of shear mobilisation during tyre strip pull-out test

This paper presents an evaluation of the pull-out behaviour of tyre strip-reinforced granular soil. The three-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) and laboratory testing were used to systematically calibrate the soil particles and the tyre strip based on their stress-strain relationship, tensile stiffness, and interface shear strength. Particle shapes were considered during sand calibration. The scaled pull-out resistance was found to match that of the experimental data. Contributions of the sectional interface shear force to the total pull-out resistance were calculated to explain the progressive failure mechanism mobilised at the tyre-sand interface. The shear force along the tyre strip was not uniformly distributed but higher in the middle portion of the tyre strip. It gradually extended towards the front end of the tyre strip before global interface slipping failure occurred. Comparing the pull-out behaviour of extensible and inextensible tyre strips, the elastic deformation of the tyre strip delayed the occurrence but not the magnitude of peak pull-out force. Micro-mechanical interactions between tyre strip and sand during shear mobilisation were discussed, and induced anisotropy was revealed. The experimental and DEM investigation results in this study provide researchers with an improved understanding of tyre-soil interaction under pull-out loads.