New basis for the constitutive modelling of aggregated soils

Natural and compacted soils are usually characterized by aggregation of particles. The mechanical behaviour of these materials depends on soil structure. The oedometric compression tests performed on aggregated samples presented here showed that these materials exhibit a yield limit depending not only on stress history and stress state but also on soil structure. Evidence is provided using the neutron tomography technique. These results revealed that soil structure modification occurs together with plastic deformations. The experimental results are used to propose a new state parameter to quantify the soil structure. Based on pore-scale experimental observations, an evolution law for this parameter is proposed as a function of associated plastic strains. Considering both soil fabric and inter-particle bonding effects, a new yield limit depending on stress state, stress history and soil structure is introduced for the aggregated soils. Accordingly, a new constitutive framework consistent with strain hardening plasticity is proposed to consider soil structure effects in the modelling of aggregated soils.     

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.     

一个高饱和度非饱和土的本构模型

高饱和度的非饱和土中由于气体处于封闭状态,其内部气压的变化必将对土体的行为产生影响。首先,对高饱和度非饱和土特性进行探讨和研究,随后,在已有非饱和土模型框架基础上,采用广义有效应力原理,建立一个适用于高饱和度条件下的非饱和土的弹塑性本构模型。模型中引入气相耗散的影响,在硬化方程中考虑封闭气体压力改变的影响。最后,利用已有的试验结果来对模型进行验证,并将模型预测结果与前人模型进行对比,表明模型预测可以很好地预测土体的行为,尤其是在高饱和度条件下其结果比其他模型更加接近实际情况。     

Thermo-elastoplastic constitutive model for unsaturated soils

This study presents a simple approach to modelling the effect of temperature on the deformation and strength of unsaturated/saturated soils by using the average skeleton stress and degree of saturation. The concept of thermo-induced equivalent stress is introduced to consider the influence of temperature on the pre-consolidated stress. A skeleton stress–saturation framework is applied to enable the model to describe the thermo-elastoplastic behaviour of both unsaturated and saturated soils, as the skeleton stress can smoothly shift to Terzaghi’s effective stress if saturation changes from the unsaturated to the saturated condition. The new model only employs seven parameters, of which five parameters are the same as those used in the Cam-Clay model. The other two parameters can be easily determined by oedometer tests and simple thermo-mechanical tests. Numerical simulations of isotropic loading tests and triaxial shear tests under different conditions are conducted to illustrate the performance of the proposed model. By comparing with experimental temperature controlled oedometer tests and triaxial tests, it is confirmed that the proposed model is able to capture the thermo-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated/saturated normally and over-consolidated soils with a set of unified parameters.     

Generalized plasticity state parameter‐based model for saturated and unsaturated soils. Part II: Unsaturated soil modeling

The aim of this paper is to extend the generalized plasticity state parameter‐based model presented in part 1 to reproduce the hydro‐mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. The proposed model is based on two pairs of stress–strain variables and a suitable hardening law taking into account the bonding—debonding effect of suction and degree of saturation. A generalized state parameter for unsaturated state is proposed to reproduce soil behavior using a single set of material parameters. Generalized plasticity gives a suitable framework to reproduce not only monotonic stress path but also cyclic behavior. The hydraulic hysteresis during a drying—wetting cycle and the void ratio effect on the hydraulic behavior is introduced. Comparison between model simulations and a series of experimental data available, both cohesive and granular, are given to illustrate the accuracy of the enhanced generalized plasticity equation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Coupled modelling of hydro‐mechanical behaviour of unsaturated compacted expansive soils

The Barcelona basic model cannot predict the mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils, whereas the Barcelona expansive model (BExM) can only predict the stress–strain behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils without the water‐retention behaviour being incorporated. Moreover, the micro‐parameters and the coupling function between micro‐structural and macro‐structural strains in the BExM are difficult to determine. Experimental data show that the compression curves for non‐expansive soils under constant suctions are shifted towards higher void ratios with increasing suction, whereas the opposite is true for expansive soils. According to the observed water‐retention behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils, the air‐entry value increases with density, and the relationship between the degree of saturation and void ratio is linear at constant suction. According to the above observation, an elastoplastic constitutive model is developed for predicting the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils, based on the existing hydro‐mechanical model for non‐expansive unsaturated soil. The model takes into consideration the effect of degree of saturation on the mechanical behaviour and that of void ratio on the water‐retention behaviour. The concept of equivalent void ratio curve is introduced to distinguish the plastic potential curve from the yield curve. The model predictions are compared with the test results of an unsaturated expansive soil, including swelling tests under constant net stress, isotropic compression tests and triaxial shear tests under constant suction. The comparison indicates that the model offers great potential for quantitatively predicting the hydraulic and mechanical behaviour of unsaturated expansive soils. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An SMP critical state model for methane hydrate‐bearing sands

Mechanical properties of methane hydrate‐bearing soils are complex. Their behavior undergoes a significant change when hydrates dissociate and become methane gas. On the other hand, methane hydrates are ice‐like compounds and, depending on the hydrate accumulation habits and the degree of hydrate saturation, may cement soil particles into stronger and stiffer soils. A new constitutive model is proposed that is capable of capturing essential characteristics of hydrate‐bearing soils. The core of the model includes the spatial mobilized plane concept; a transformed stress, t_ij; the critical state; and the subloading framework. The proposed model gives soil responses due to stress changes or hydrate saturation changes or both. The performance of the model has been found satisfactory, over a range of hydrate saturation and confining pressures, using triaxial test data from laboratory‐synthesized samples and from field samples extracted from Nankai Trough, Japan. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

非饱和土的本构模型研究

引用平均土骨架应力的概念,研究推导出非饱和土的刚度参数随吸力变化而变化的关系式,进而推导得到用平均土骨架应力表述的非饱和土LC屈服面函数以及硬化规律。从土力学原理推导,得到土样由于在净应力和吸力作用下产生体积变形引起土样饱和度变化的关系式。由平均土骨架应力推广,得到三轴应力状态的椭圆屈服函数,这一非饱和土本构模型的优点在于考虑了应力作用后土样饱和度的变化,通过对已有试验数据的初步验证,表明提出的非饱和土本构模型的合理性和适用性。     

An advanced hydro-mechanical constitutive model for unsaturated soils with different initial densities

This paper presents an advanced constitutive model for unsaturated soils, using Bishop’s effective stress (σ′) and the effective degree of saturation (S_e) as two fundamental constitutive variables in the proposed constitutive model. A sub-loading surface and a unified hardening parameter (H) are introduced into the σ′–S_e modelling framework to interpret the effects of initial density on coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour of compacted soils. Compared with existing models in the literature, the main advantage of the proposed model that it is capable of modelling hydro-mechanical behaviour of unsaturated soils compacted to different initial densities, such as the dependence of loading–collapse volume on initial void ratio and density effect on the shearing-induced saturation change. The proposed model requires 13 material parameters, all of which can be calibrated through conventional laboratory tests. Numerical studies are conducted to assess the performance of the model for a hypothetical soil under two typical hydro-mechanical loading scenarios. The proposed advanced unsaturated soil model is then validated against a number of experimental results for both isotropic and triaxial conditions reported in the literature.     

非饱和（冻）土导热系数预估模型研究

岩土材料的导热系数是岩土工程温度场分析及建筑热工计算中的重要参数。研究旨在建立一个基于归一化导热系数概念和以土的干燥和饱和状态导热系数为基准的非饱和土导热系数的通用预估模型。通过对文献中328组实测数据的分析发现,将同类土在不同密实度条件下的各种导热系数-含水率曲线簇进行归一化处理后,可以得到惟一的归一化导热系数kr与饱和度Sr（归一化含水率）关系,1/kr与1/Sr呈相关性较好的线性关系,而每支1/kr-1/Sr直线均通过坐标（1,1）点的斜率由土质类型决定。据此提出了一个集成土质类型、密实度（孔隙率）和含水率（饱和度）等因素综合影响的融土和冻土导热系数通用预估模型,并给出了导热系数预估模型中土质参数的取值范围,以及融土和冻土处于完全干燥状态和饱和状态的确定方法。对预估模型进行验证结果表明,所提出的非饱和土导热系数预估模型具有较好准确性。     

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.

     

ACMEG‐TS: A constitutive model for unsaturated soils under non‐isothermal conditions

This paper introduces an unconventional constitutive model for soils, which deals with a unified thermo‐mechanical modelling for unsaturated soils. The relevant temperature and suction effects are studied in light of elasto‐plasticity. A generalized effective stress framework is adopted, which includes a number of intrinsic thermo‐hydro‐mechanical connections, to represent the stress state in the soil. Two coupled constitutive aspects are used to fully describe the non‐isothermal behaviour. The mechanical constitutive part is built on the concepts of bounding surface theory and multi‐mechanism plasticity, whereas water retention characteristics are described using elasto‐plasticity to reproduce the hysteretic response and the effect of temperature and dry density on retention properties. The theoretical formulation is supported by comparisons with experimental results on two compacted clays. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of liquefaction of unsaturated soil using critical state soil model

Several researchers have reported that the mean effective stress of unsaturated soils having a relatively high degree of saturation gradually decreases under fully undrained cyclic loading conditions, and such soils can be finally liquefied like saturated soils. This paper describes a series of simulations of fully undrained cyclic loading on unsaturated soils, conducted using an elastoplastic model for unsaturated soils. This model is a critical state soil model formulated using effective stress tensor for unsaturated soils, which incorporates the following concepts: (a) the volumetric movement of the state boundary surface containing the critical state line owing to the variation in the degree of saturation; (b) the soil water characteristic curve considering the effects of specific volume and hydraulic hysteresis; and (c) the subloading surface concept for considering the effect of density. Void air is assumed to be an ideal gas obeying Boyle's law. The proposed model is validated through comparisons with past results. The simulation results show that the proposed model properly describes the fully undrained cyclic behavior of unsaturated soils, such as liquefaction, compression, and an increase in the degree of saturation. Finally, the effects of the degree of saturation, void ratio, and confining pressure on the cyclic strength of unsaturated soils are described by the simulation results. The liquefaction resistance of unsaturated soils increases as the degree of saturation and the void ratio decrease, and as the confining pressure increases. Furthermore, the degree of saturation has a greater effect on the liquefaction resistance than the confining pressure and void ratio. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Desiccation shrinkage of non‐clayey soils: a numerical study

A mesoscale model of desiccation of soil based on the evolution of the pore system idealized as bimodal is numerically examined. A simplified evolution of the model reveals a series of characteristics that qualitatively agree with the observed macroscopic experimental findings. The principal mechanism is deemed to be driven by the surface evaporation and water outflow generating a pore pressure gradient resulting in the shrinkage mainly of the largest pores. The amount of shrinkage is a function of (negative) pore pressure and is controlled by the compressibility of the solid matrix. The numerical model includes also the ensuing partial saturation stage initiated by the air entry simulated as a scenario with a moving phase interface inside the pore. The proposed model can be extended beyond the two‐mode porosity soils, to include the multi‐modal porosity, or its statistical representation.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

考虑毛细滞回效应的非饱和多孔介质渗流与变形耦合本构模型

在Wheeler本构模型框架的基础上,提出了一个水力与力学耦合的本构模型。该模型中的土-水特征曲线采用毛细滞回内变量模型,能够更好地描述水力历史变化下毛细滞回现象对非饱和多孔介质变形的影响,同时也可描述非饱和多孔介质变形对渗流的影响。非饱和土的强度不仅与吸力有关,而且受到饱和度的影响。相同的吸力下,土样经过吸湿和脱湿路径的饱和度不同,因此,非饱和土的强度也不同。此模型以体积含水率的塑性变化和体变的塑性变化为硬化参数,不仅能描述基质吸力对非饱和土的强化作用,而且考虑了饱和度对强度及变形的影响。试验结果与模型预测基本吻合,证明该模型能够模拟非饱和土的主要特性。为了简化,此模型是在各向同性荷载下推得的,有待于推广到一般的应力状态     

Instability criteria for quasi‐saturated viscous soils

This paper presents a theoretical framework to interpret the inception of unstable undrained creep in quasi‐saturated soils. For this purpose, the effect of gas bubbles occluded in the fluid phase is embedded into an augmented compressibility of the fluid mixture, while the mechanical characteristics of the solid skeleton have been simulated through a viscoplastic strain‐hardening model. This constitutive framework has been been used to formulate a theoretical platform able to detect runaway failures resulting from extended stages of undrained creep. It is shown that the conditions identifying the onset of spontaneous accelerations are governed by the same stability index associated with the initiation of static liquefaction. At variance with soils saturated by incompressible fluids, the conditions for undrained instability are altered by the appearance of the Skempton coefficient B, thus reflecting the beneficial effect of the fluid compressibility and its ability to decrease the liquefaction potential. The capabilities of the theory are verified through a sequence of undrained creep simulations showing the transition from stable to unstable behavior resulting from an increase of the degree of saturation. The proposed findings provide a conceptual framework to interpret the effects of gas bubbles in loose soils, as well as to assess effectiveness and longevity of liquefaction mitigation strategies based on desaturation technologies.     

Effective stress concept in unsaturated soils: Clarification and validation of a unified framework

The effective stress principle, conventionally applied in saturated soils, is reviewed for constitutive modelling purposes. The assumptions for the applicability of Terzaghi's single effective stress are recalled and its advantages are inventoried. The possible stress frameworks applicable to unsaturated soil modelling are reassessed in a comparative manner, specifically the Bishop's single effective stress, the independent stress variables approach and the generalized stress framework. The latter considerations lead to the definition of a unified stress context, suitable for modelling soils under different saturation states. In order to qualify the implications brought by the proposed stress framework, several experimental data sets are re‐examined in the light of the generalized effective stress. The critical state lines (CSLs) at different saturation states tend to converge remarkably towards a unique saturated line in the deviatoric stress versus mean effective stress plane. The effective stress interpretation is also applied to isotropic paths and compared with conventional net stress conception. The accent is finally laid on a second key feature for constitutive frameworks based on a unified stress, namely the sufficiency of a unique mechanical yield surface besides the unique CSL. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A bounding surface elasto‐viscoplastic constitutive model for non‐isothermal cyclic analysis of asphaltic materials

An elasto‐viscoplastic constitutive model for asphaltic materials is presented within the context of bounding surface plasticity theory, taking into account the effects of the stress state, void binder degree of saturation, temperature and strain rate on the material behaviour. A stress state dependent non‐linear elasticity model is introduced to represent time‐independent recoverable portion of the deformation. The consistent visco‐plasticity framework is utilised to capture the rate‐dependent, non‐recoverable strain components. The material parameters introduced in the model are identified, and their determination from conventional laboratory tests is discussed. The capability of the model to reproduce experimentally observed response of asphaltic materials is demonstrated through numerical simulations of several laboratory test data from the literature. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A thermo‐mechanical model for variably saturated soils based on hypoplasticity

The paper presents a mechanical model for non‐isothermal behaviour of unsaturated soils. The model is based on an incrementally non‐linear hypoplastic model for saturated clays and can therefore tackle the non‐linear behaviour of overconsolidated soils. A hypoplastic model for non‐isothermal behaviour of saturated soils was developed and combined with the existing hypoplastic model for unsaturated soils based on the effective stress principle. Features of the soil behaviour that are included into the model, and those that are not, are clearly distinguished. The number of model parameters is kept to a minimum, and they all have a clear physical interpretation, to facilitate the model usefulness for practical applications. The step‐by‐step procedure used for the parameter calibration is described. The model is finally evaluated using a comprehensive set of experimental data for the thermo‐mechanical behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.