ABSTRACT
Strain localization, or shear banding, is one of the common failure behaviors of granular materials observed both in-situ (slopes, retaining walls, embankments and foundations) and in the laboratory (triaxial and biaxial tests). Such behavior manifests itself in large shearing deformation within thin zones of intensive shearing (Drescher et al., 1990; Finno et al., 1996). Once strain localization initializes, these thin zones usually feature volumetric dilation and higher void ratios. Consequently, the assumption that the soil masses are continua is no longer valid and the material behavior should be viewed as a bifurcation problem.
