Towards the Numerical Modelling of the Adhesion Between Plane Steel Surfaces and Fine-Grained Soils

Abstract Adhesion or “stickiness” of cohesive soils is a huge concern in the context of tunnelling applications owing to the risk of significant clogging in tunnel boring machines (TBMs) passing through fine-grained soils. Separation tests can be used to quantify the adhesive strength of soil-steel interfaces. In this study, a finite element model was developed to predict the behaviour of soil-steel interface subjected to a separation load. Adopting an exponential traction separation law, the surface-based cohesive contact effectively replicated the separation response of the adhesive interface.