Transient bifurcation condition of partially saturated porous media at finite strain

Bifurcation of unsaturated soils into a localized shear band is a ubiquitous failure mode of partially saturated soils. The density and degree of saturation have major impacts on the inception of localized deformations in unsaturated soils. Unsaturated fluid flow may dramatically change the density and degree of fluid saturation of unsaturated soils. Therefore, the unsaturated fluid flow is a potential trigger for shear banding in such materials. In this paper, we derive a simplified bifurcation condition of localized deformation in unsaturated soils under the local transient condition at finite strain. This transient bifurcation condition is implemented into a nonlinear finite element code to study the inception of localized deformation in unsaturated soil specimens. Numerical simulations are conducted to study the impact of soil fabrics of density, a ‘bonding’ variable, and intrinsic permeability on the inception of localized failures via the transient bifurcation criterion. Mesh sensitivity analysis is performed to demonstrate the viscosity effect of unsaturated fluid flow on the localized deformation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the transient bifurcation condition can detect the localized deformation triggered by the internal unsaturated fluid flow process in unsaturated soils. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of Lode angle‐dependent failure criteria on shear localization analysis in sand

Geotechnical experiments show that Lode angle‐dependent constitutive formulations are appropriate to describe the failure of geomaterials. In the present study, we have adopted one such class of failure criteria along with a versatile constitutive relationship to theoretically analyze the effects of Lode angle on localized shear deformation or shear band formation in loose sand for both drained and undrained conditions. We determine the variation in the possible stress states for shear localization due to the introduction of Lode angle by considering the localized deformation as a bifurcation problem. Further, similar bifurcation analysis is performed for the stress states along a specific loading path, namely, plane strain compression at the constitutive level. In addition, the plane strain compression tests have been simulated as a boundary value finite element problem to see how Lode angle affects the post‐localization response. Results show that the inclusion of a Lode angle parameter within the failure criterion has considerable effects on the onset, plastic strain, and propagation of shear localization in loose sand specimens. For drained condition, we notice early inception of shear localization and multiple band formation when the Lode angle‐dependent failure criterion is used. Undrained localization characteristics, however, found to be independent of Lode angle consideration.     

Diffuse instabilities with transition to localization in loose granular materials

This paper is concerned with diffuse and other ensuing failure modes in geomaterials when tested under homogeneous states of shearing in various loading programs and drainage conditions. Material instability is indeed the basic property that accounts for the instability of an initially homogeneous deformation field leading to diffuse failure and strain localization in geomaterials. The former is normally characterized by a runaway type of failure accompanied with a sudden and violent collapse of the material in the absence of any localization phenomena. Against this backdrop, we present a brief overview of material instability in elastoplastic solids where one finds a rich source of theoretical concepts including bifurcation, strain localization, diffuse failure and second‐order work, as well as a considerable body of experiments. Some compelling laboratory experimental studies of material instability with focus to diffuse failure are then presented and interpreted based on the second‐order work. Finally, various material instability analyses using an elastoplastic constitutive and a general finite element analysis of the above‐mentioned laboratory experimental tests are presented as a boundary value problem. It is shown that instability can be captured from otherwise uniform stress, density and hydraulic states, whereas uniform deviatoric loads are being applied on the external boundaries of a specimen. Although the numerical simulations reproduce well the laboratory experimental results, they also highlight the hierarchy of failure modes where localization phenomena emerge in the post‐bifurcation regime as a result of a degradation of homogeneity starting from a diffuse mode signalled by a zero second‐order work. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A hierarchical thermo‐hydro‐plastic constitutive model for unsaturated soils and its numerical implementation

Unsaturated soils are highly heterogeneous 3‐phase porous media. Variations of temperature, the degree of saturation, and density have dramatic impacts on the hydro‐mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. To model all these features, we present a thermo‐hydro‐plastic model in which the hydro‐mechanical hardening and thermal softening are incorporated in a hierarchical fashion for unsaturated soils. This novel constitutive model can capture heterogeneities in density, suction, the degree of saturation, and temperature. Specifically, this constitutive model has 2 ingredients: (1) it has a “mesoscale” mechanical state variable—porosity and 3 environmental state variables—suction, the degree of saturation, and temperature; (2) both temperature and mechanical effects on water retention properties are taken into account. The return mapping algorithm is applied to implement this model at Gauss point assuming an infinitesimal strain. At each time step, the return mapping is conducted only in principal elastic strain space, assuming no return mapping in suction and temperature. The numerical results obtained by this constitutive model are compared with the experimental results. It shows that the proposed model can simulate the thermo‐hydro‐mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils with satisfaction. We also conduct shear band analysis of an unsaturated soil specimen under plane strain condition to demonstrate the impact of temperature variation on shear banding triggered by initial material heterogeneities.     

Uniqueness and existence in plasticity models for unsaturated soils

The paper investigates the mathematical structure of plasticity models for unsaturated soils and provides a strategy to capture the loss of uniqueness of the incremental solution upon loading and/or wetting paths. To derive bifurcation conditions in simple analytical form, the analysis is restricted to isotropic stress states. This choice has allowed the inspection of the most common classes of constitutive models through a unified notation, as well as the study of different forms of coupling between plasticity and state of saturation. It is shown that, similar to saturated soil plasticity, the loss of admissibility of the plastic solution is governed by critical values of the hardening modulus. At variance with the classical case, however, these moduli can be positive even if the plastic flow rule is associated (bifurcation in the hardening regime). The paper shows that such non-trivial features derive from hydro-mechanical coupling, i.e. they depend on the approach used to reproduce suction effects and evolving retention properties. In other words, although the problem of loss of uniqueness affects all classes of plasticity models for unsaturated soils, different constitutive assumptions may not have the same outcome in terms of bifurcation potential. As a result, new concepts are introduced to compare the mathematical robustness of the different constitutive approaches, as well as to interpret their predictions in the light of precise bifurcation criteria.     

A peridynamics model for strain localization analysis of geomaterials

Geomaterials such as sand and clay are highly heterogeneous multiphase materials. Nonlocality (or a characteristic length scale) in modeling geomaterials based on the continuum theory can be associated with several factors, for instance, the physical interactions of material points within finite distance, the homogenization or smoothing process of material heterogeneity, and the particle or problem size-dependent mechanical behavior (eg, the thickness of shear bands) of geomaterials. In this article, we formulate a nonlocal elastoplastic constitutive model for geomaterials by adapting a local elastoplastic model for geomaterials at a constant suction through the constitutive correspondence principle of the state-based peridynamics theory. We numerically implement this nonlocal constitutive model via the classical return-mapping algorithm of computational plasticity. We first conduct a one-dimensional compression test of a soil sample at a constant suction through the numerical model with three different values of the nonlocal variable (horizon) δ. We then present a strain localization analysis of a soil sample under the constant suction and plane strain conditions with different nonlocal variables. The numerical results show that the proposed nonlocal model can be used to simulate the inception and propagation of shear banding as well as to capture the thickness of shear bands in geomaterials at a constant suction.     

不饱和土动弹塑性本构模型研究

以饱和度与有效应力为状态变量,通过引入描述不饱和与饱和土孔隙比差的状态变量,将Zhang等提出的饱和土体应力诱导各向异性动弹塑性本构模型推广到不饱和土体中,使其可描述不饱和土在动力循环荷载作用下的力学特性行为。通过对已有不饱和土体在完全不排水条件下的动三轴试验进行理论模拟,验证了所提出不饱和土本构模型的正确性。最后基于所提出本构模型,讨论了在不排水条件下初始饱和度对不饱和土动力特性研究。结果表明,不饱和土在动力荷载作用下,土体的孔隙比将减少,导致饱和度增加;当初始饱和度较高时,不饱和土会转化为饱和土,从而发生液化现象。该研究成果对研究不饱和土在地震等动力荷载作用下的力学特性行为具有重要意义。     

岩土破损力学:结构块破损机制与二元介质模型

沈珠江等在总结岩土材料的基本特性、分析理论和研究方法的基础上,提出了岩土破损力学理论框架和二元介质模型概念。基于岩土二元介质模型思想,近年来在试验、理论和数值模拟方面对结构性岩土材料进行了详细研究。通过对棒状和棱柱状结构块试件的平面试验,探讨了结构性岩土材料的破损机制,并发现了在受荷过程中结构块逐渐破损并转化为软弱带二者共同抵抗外部作用,即验证了二元介质模型对结构性岩土材料力学抽象的正确性;扩展了岩土二元介质模型对岩土材料的脆性变化进行了模拟,并与结构性土和砂岩的三轴试验结果进行了验证;基于二元介质模型概念,发展了一种模拟岩土材料破损过程的细观数值方法,同时提出了适用于结构性岩土材料的强度准则。     

Unsaturated structured soils: constitutive modelling and stability analyses

The paper presents a new single-surface elasto-plastic model for unsaturated cemented soils, formulated within the critical state soil mechanics framework, which should be considered as an extension to unsaturated conditions of a recently proposed constitutive law for saturated structured soils. The model has been developed with the main purpose of inspecting the mechanical instabilities induced in natural soils by bond degradation resulting from the accumulation of plastic strains and/or the changes in pore saturation. At this scope, the constitutive equations are used to simulate typical geotechnical testing conditions, whose results are then analysed in light of the controllability theory. The results of triaxial tests on an ideal fully saturated cemented soil and on the corresponding unsaturated uncemented one are first discussed, aiming at detecting the evidence of potentially unstable conditions throughout the numerical simulations. This is followed by similar analyses considering the combined effects of both the above features. For each analysed case, a simple analytical stability criterion is proposed and validated against the numerical results, generalizing the results, and highlighting the crucial role of state variables and model parameters on the possible occurrence of failure conditions.

     

Conditions for instabilities in collapsible solids including volume implosion and compaction banding

We review conditions for material instabilities in porous solids induced by a bifurcation of solution into non-unique strain rate fields. Bifurcation modes considered include jumps in the strain rate tensor of ranks one and higher representing deformation band and diffuse instability modes, respectively. Eigenmodes (e-modes) are extracted for each type of instability to fully characterize various frameworks of deformation in collapsible solids. For diffuse instability these e-modes are determined from a homogeneous system of linear equations emanating from the condition of zero jump in the stress rate tensor, which in turn demands that the tangent constitutive tensor be singular for the existence of nontrivial solutions. For isotropic materials we describe two types of singularity of the constitutive tensor: (a) singularity of the constitutive matrix in principal axes, and (b) singularity of spin. Accordingly, we derive the e-modes for each type of singularity. We utilize the singularity of the constitutive matrix in principal axes as a precursor to volume implosion in collapsible solids such as loose sands undergoing liquefaction instability and high-porosity rocks undergoing cataclastic flow. Finally, we compare conditions and e-modes for volume implosion and compaction banding, two similar failure modes ubiquitous in granular soils and rocks.Supported by U.S. Department of Energy, Grant DE-FG02-03ER15454, and U.S. National Science Foundation, Grants CMS-0201317 and CMS-0324674.     

含液各向异性多孔介质应变局部化分析

工程中的含液多孔介质如饱和或非饱和岩土材料往往具有各向异性特性。采用Rudnicki建立的针对岩土材料的各向异性本构模型,对轴对称压缩试验中的含液多孔介质骨架的各向异性力学行为进行了分析;基于不连续分叉理论,导出了静态非渗流条件下处于轴对称应力状态的含液多孔介质应变局部化发生的临界模量、剪切带方向以及不连续速度矢量的显式表达式,在此基础上计算并讨论了材料参数变化和孔隙液体存在对各向异性多孔介质应变局部化的影响。     

Analytical 3D transient elastodynamic fundamental solution of unsaturated soils

Unsaturated soils are considered as porous continua, composed of porous skeleton with its pores filled by water and air. The governing partial differential equations (PDE) are derived based on the mechanics for isothermal and infinitesimal evolution of unsaturated porous media in terms of skeleton displacement vector, liquid, and gas scalar pressures. Meanwhile, isotropic linear elastic behavior and liquid retention curve are presented in terms of net stress and capillary pressure as constitutive relations. Later, an explicit 3D Laplace transform domain fundamental solution is obtained for governing PDE and then closed‐form analytical transient 3D fundamental solution is presented by means of analytical inverse Laplace transform technique. Finally, a numerical example is presented to validate the assumptions used to derive the analytical solution by comparing them with the numerically inverted ones. The transient fundamental solutions represent important features of the elastic wave propagation theory in the unsaturated soils. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A plasticity constitutive model for unsaturated,anisotropic, nonexpansive soils

The paper describes and evaluates an incremental plasticity constitutive model for unsaturated, anisotropic, nonexpansive soils (CMUA). It is based on the modified Cam-Clay (MCC) model for saturated soils and enhances it by introducing anisotropy (via rotation of the MCC yield surface) and an unsaturated compressibility framework describing a double dependence of compressibility on suction and on the degree of saturation of macroporosity. As the anisotropic and unsaturated features can be activated independently, the model is downwards compatible with the MCC model. The CMUA model can simulate effectively: the dependence of compressibility on the level of developed anisotropy, uniqueness of critical state independent of the initial anisotropy, an evolving compressibility during constant suction compression, and a maximum of collapse. The model uses Bishop's average skeleton stress as its first constitutive variable, favouring its numerical implementation in commercial numerical analysis codes (eg, finite element codes) and a unified treatment of saturated and unsaturated material states.     

A porous media finite element approach for soil instability including the second-order work criterion

This paper deals with the hydromechanical modelling of the initiation of failure in soils with particular reference to landslides. To this end, localized and diffused failure modes are simulated with a finite element model for coupled elasto-plastic variably saturated porous geomaterials, in which the material point instability is detected with the second-order work criterion based on Hill’s sufficient condition of stability. Three different expressions of the criterion are presented, in which the second-order work is expressed in terms of generalized effective stress, of total stress and thirdly by taking into account the hydraulic energy contribution for partially saturated materials. The above-mentioned computational framework has been applied to study two initial boundary value problems: shear failure of a plane strain compression test of globally undrained water-saturated dense sand (where cavitation occurs at strain localization) and isochoric grain matter, and the onset of a flowslide from southern Italy due to rainfall (Sarno-Quindici events, May 5–6 1998). It is shown that the second-order work criterion applied at the material point level detects the local material instability and gives a good spatial indication of the extent of the potentially unstable domains in both the localized and diffused failure mechanisms of the cases analyzed, is able to capture the instability induced by cavitation of the liquid water and gives results according to the time evolution of plastic strains and displacement rate.     

Numerical analysis of seepage–deformation in unsaturated soils

A coupled elastic–plastic finite element analysis based on simplified consolidation theory for unsaturated soils is used to investigate the coupling processes of water infiltration and deformation. By introducing a reduced suction and an elastic–plastic constitutive equation for the soil skeleton, the simplified consolidation theory for unsaturated soils is incorporated into an in-house finite element code. Using the proposed numerical method, the generation of pore water pressure and development of deformation can be simulated under evaporation or rainfall infiltration conditions. Through a parametric study and comparison with the test results, the proposed method is found to describe well the characteristics during water evaporation/infiltration into unsaturated soils. Finally, an unsaturated soil slope with water infiltration is analyzed in detail to investigate the development of the displacement and generation of pore water pressure.     

考虑损伤效应的岩石类材料局部化特性分析

在各向同性损伤条件下,考虑岩石损伤过程中的刚度降低和体积扩容,通过理论推导建立了岩石发生分叉失稳时的最大硬化模量和临界局部化方向,探讨了局部化方向角对于岩石的损伤程度和初始泊松比的依赖关系,并对平面应力与平面应变两种条件下单轴拉伸试件的分叉特性进行了对比分析。研究表明,岩石的初始泊松比与损伤程度越大,局部化方向角越大;尽管平面应力与平面应变条件下单轴拉伸问题的局部化方向角具有相似的变化趋势,但平面应力条件下的局部化方向角低于平面应变条件下同样情况下的局部化方向角。     

Modelling the effect of temperature on unsaturated soil behaviour

A simple thermohydromechanical (THM) constitutive model for unsaturated soils is described. The effective stress concept is extended to unsaturated soils with the introduction of a capillary stress. This capillary stress is based on a microstructural model and calculated from attraction forces due to water menisci. The effect of desaturation and the thermal softening phenomenon are modelled with a minimal number of material parameters and based on existing models. THM process is qualitatively and quantitatively modelled by using experimental data and previous work to show the application of the model, including a drying path under mechanical stress with transition between saturated and unsaturated states, a heating path under constant suction and a deviatoric path with imposed suction and temperature. The results show that the present model can simulate the THM behaviour in unsaturated soils in a satisfactory way.     

Fractional order constitutive model of geomaterials under the condition of triaxial test

Fractional calculus has been successfully applied to characterize the rheological property of viscoelastic materials; however, geomaterials were seldom involved in fractional order constitutive models (FOCM), and the topic of first loading and then unloading is rarely discussed through fractional calculus. In this paper, mechanical properties are considered as a ‘spectrum’, both ends of which are elasticity and viscosity, and the fractional order can be utilized to describe such properties quantitatively. In addition to conditions such as creep, stress‐relaxation, and constant‐strain‐rate loading, stress‐strain relationship under the condition of first loading and then unloading was also derived using FOCM. FOCM is then adopted to simulate triaxial tests of geomaterials under corresponding conditions. A comparison of test and numerical results demonstrates that FOCM can reasonably describe the mechanical characteristics of geomaterials.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A thermo‐hydro‐mechanical model for unsaturated soils based on the effective stress concept

A simple thermo‐hydro‐mechanical (THM) constitutive model for unsaturated soils is described. The effective stress concept is extended to unsaturated soils with the introduction of a capillary stress. This capillary stress is based on a microstructural model and calculated from attraction forces due to water menisci. The effect of desaturation and the thermal softening phenomenon are modelled with a minimal number of material parameters and based on existing models. THM process is qualitatively and quantitatively modelled by using experimental data and previous work to show the application of the model, including a drying path under mechanical stress with transition between saturated and unsaturated states, a heating path under constant suction and a deviatoric path with imposed suction and temperature. The results show that the present model can simulate the THM behaviour in unsaturated soils in a satisfactory way. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.