About the critical height of a vertical cut

The iconic problem of the stability analysis of a vertical cut is revisited after Drucker’s celebrated contribution, in order to assess the sensitivity of the analysis to the soil tensile resistance. Within the framework of the exterior approach of the theory of yield design, the same virtual mechan...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Salençon, Jean
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Académie des sciences 2024-12-01
Series:Comptes Rendus. Mécanique
Subjects:
Online Access:https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.5802/crmeca.276/
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1825205902650638336
author Salençon, Jean
author_facet Salençon, Jean
author_sort Salençon, Jean
collection DOAJ
description The iconic problem of the stability analysis of a vertical cut is revisited after Drucker’s celebrated contribution, in order to assess the sensitivity of the analysis to the soil tensile resistance. Within the framework of the exterior approach of the theory of yield design, the same virtual mechanisms as introduced by Drucker are reconsidered and thoroughly implemented. It is observed that, whatever the value of the friction angle, the drastic drop of the non-dimensional stability factor observed by Drucker when the constituent soil does not sustain tension remains confined within the immediate vicinity i.e., a few percent, of zero tensile resistance. Despite the fact that this conclusion cannot be considered as a final one since it is only based upon a full implementation of Drucker’s virtual collapse mechanisms, we believe it may bring some relief as to the reliability of classical analyses that do not take any tension cutoff into account, as a response to Drucker’s warning about “the consequences of assuming soil unable to take tension”.
format Article
id doaj-art-148c65d8e72e4a98ab0d76033a48a6cc
institution Kabale University
issn 1873-7234
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Académie des sciences
record_format Article
series Comptes Rendus. Mécanique
spelling doaj-art-148c65d8e72e4a98ab0d76033a48a6cc2025-02-07T13:48:47ZengAcadémie des sciencesComptes Rendus. Mécanique1873-72342024-12-01352G126927510.5802/crmeca.27610.5802/crmeca.276About the critical height of a vertical cutSalençon, Jean0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8472-5946Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, City University, Hong KongThe iconic problem of the stability analysis of a vertical cut is revisited after Drucker’s celebrated contribution, in order to assess the sensitivity of the analysis to the soil tensile resistance. Within the framework of the exterior approach of the theory of yield design, the same virtual mechanisms as introduced by Drucker are reconsidered and thoroughly implemented. It is observed that, whatever the value of the friction angle, the drastic drop of the non-dimensional stability factor observed by Drucker when the constituent soil does not sustain tension remains confined within the immediate vicinity i.e., a few percent, of zero tensile resistance. Despite the fact that this conclusion cannot be considered as a final one since it is only based upon a full implementation of Drucker’s virtual collapse mechanisms, we believe it may bring some relief as to the reliability of classical analyses that do not take any tension cutoff into account, as a response to Drucker’s warning about “the consequences of assuming soil unable to take tension”.https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.5802/crmeca.276/Strength criterionMaximum resisting rate of workTension cutoffVertical cutCritical height
spellingShingle Salençon, Jean
About the critical height of a vertical cut
Comptes Rendus. Mécanique
Strength criterion
Maximum resisting rate of work
Tension cutoff
Vertical cut
Critical height
title About the critical height of a vertical cut
title_full About the critical height of a vertical cut
title_fullStr About the critical height of a vertical cut
title_full_unstemmed About the critical height of a vertical cut
title_short About the critical height of a vertical cut
title_sort about the critical height of a vertical cut
topic Strength criterion
Maximum resisting rate of work
Tension cutoff
Vertical cut
Critical height
url https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.5802/crmeca.276/
work_keys_str_mv AT salenconjean aboutthecriticalheightofaverticalcut