Strain localisation in large deformation geotechnical applications

Strain localisation width is important for assessments of failure as soil softens more quickly within narrow localisations. This thesis first revisits the classical pipe penetration problem in strain-softening soil to highlight mesh-dependency issues in numerical analyses. The non-local method is then implemented in Abaqus to mitigate mesh dependency, which requires an internal length scale (i.e., numerical strain localisation width) to be specified. This thesis investigates the feasibility of using image-based deformation measurement to quantify strain localisations, followed by measuring localisation widths in low-strength clays through vane shear tests and in normally consolidated clays through modelling pipe penetration in the centrifuge.