A THERMO-VISCOPLASTIC CONSTITUTIVE MODEL FOR CLAYS

The effect of heat on clay behaviour is characterized by non-linearity and irreversibility. Due to the complex influence of temperature, thermomechanical factors have to be taken into account for the numerical simulation of the behaviour of such materials. A cyclic thermo-viscoplastic model is developed for this purpose. It includes thermal hardening and the evolution of yield surfaces with temperature. From the physical point of view, it is built on the basis of available experimental results for a temperature range in which no phase change occurs. Conceptually, it is the generalization of an isothermal multimechanism cyclic model. A thermoplastic formulation of the model is also derived. The results obtained from numerical simulations compare well with experiments. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element simulation of the thermoviscoplastic behaviour of bituminous concrete

The general framework of the paper deals with the finite element modelling of thermomechanical problems involving viscous materials. The study focuses on the statement of constitutive equations describing the thermoviscoplastic behaviour of bituminous concrete, as well as on their implementation in a finite element program. After stating the general equations of the space- and time-continuous problem and the constitutive relations governing the viscoplastic component of the bituminous concrete behaviour, we deal with their integration over finite time steps, considering two different schemes. Eventually, two sets of numerical results are presented. The first one, an homogeneous triaxial test, is used to compare those schemes, whereas the second one consists of numerical simulations of real-size experiments performed on a road structure subjected to thermal and mechanical loadings. By comparing the numerical results with experimental ones, it allows us to test the finite element code on a more complex and realistic problem. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.