On simulation of shear band propagation in trapdoor-tests

Progressive and catastrophic failure in soils has been commonly associated with the phenomenon of the shear band propagation. This is a challenging topic both in terms of understanding and simulation. This paper is an attempt to outline the problems related to analytical and numerical modeling of the rate of progressive shear band propagation in trapdoor-tests performed on dense sand in active and passive modes. The simplified analytical solution is based on the fracture mechanics energy balance and on the limiting equilibrium approaches. FLAC has been chosen as a standard FD numerical tool to explore and compare different simulation approaches. Numerical results are validated against the experimental data.