International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics
The seismic stability analysis of an embankment lying over a soft foundation soil reinforced by a group of vertical piles is performed within the framework of the upper bound kinematic approach of yield design. The analysis is based on a previously developed ‘multiphase’ model of the reinforced ground, which explicitly accounts for the shear and bending resistances of the piles. Making use of appropriate...
Geotechnical engineering problems are characterized by many sources of uncertainty. Some of these sources are connected to the uncertainties of soil properties involved in the analysis. In this paper, a numerical procedure for a probabilistic analysis that considers the spatial variability of cross‐correlated soil properties is presented and applied to study the bearing capacity of spatially random...
In classical plasticity there are clear mathematical links between the dissipation function and the consequent yield function and flow rule. These links help to construct constitutive equations with the minimum of adjustable parameters. Modelling granular materials, however, requires that the dissipation function depends on the current stress state (frictional plasticity) and this changes the mathematical...
The paper presents an approach to predicting variation of a degree of saturation in unsaturated soils with void ratio and suction. The approach is based on the effective stress principle for unsaturated soils and several underlying assumptions. It focuses on the main drying and wetting processes and does not incorporate the effects of hydraulic hysteresis. It leads to the dependency of water retention...
Heat‐induced excess pore pressures on the failure surface of a planar slide have been calculated by solving the mass and heat balance equations on the shear band. The set of differential equations and the equation of motion of the slide have been solved in closed form for the case of incompressible fluid and incompressible soil skeleton. The solution describes the accelerated motion of the slide....
The development of a coupled elastoplastic damage constitutive model for argillites is presented. Emphasis is put on the description of post‐failure and coupled hydromechanical behavior of argillites during the desaturation/resaturation processes. A short summary of experimental investigations is given in the first part, which shows an important plastic deformation coupled with damage and a significant...
Experimental evidence shows that soil stiffness at very small strains is strongly anisotropic and depends on the stress level and void ratio. In particular, stiffness anisotropy varies considerably in sand when subjected to cyclic loading, following the stress cycles applied. To model this behaviour, an innovative hyperelastic formulation based on the elastoplastic coupling is incorporated in a new...
Drying of deformable porous media results in their shrinkage, and it may cause cracking provided that shrinkage deformations are hindered by kinematic constraints. This is the motivation to develop a thermodynamics‐based microporoelasticity model for the assessment of cracking risk in partially saturated porous geomaterials. The study refers to 3D representative volume elements of porous media, including...
Drying of deformable porous media results in their shrinkage, and it may cause cracking provided that shrinkage deformations are hindered by kinematic constraints. Herein, we focus on slow drying of an initially water‐saturated sample of a microheterogeneous poroelastic material damaged by parallel mesocracks. The cracking risk is analyzed by means of the thermodynamics‐based microporoelasticity model...
Repeated small amplitude dynamic loading of the soil in the vicinity of buildings, as arising from traffic or construction activities, may cause differential foundation settlements and structural damage. In this paper, a numerical model for soils under repeated dynamic loading is formulated. It is assumed that the dynamic part of the loading is small with respect to the static part, reflecting the...
The paper describes the development and numerical implementation of a constitutive relationship for modeling the elasto‐plastic behavior of block structures with periodic texture, regarded at a macroscopic scale as homogenized anisotropic media. The macroscopic model is shown to retain memory of the mechanical characteristics of the joints and of the shape of the blocks. The overall mechanical properties...
The governing differential equations of unsaturated soils considering the thermo‐poro‐mechanical behaviour consist of equilibrium, moisture air and heat transfer equations. In this paper at first, following some necessary simplifications, the thermal three‐dimensional fundamental solution for an unsaturated deformable porous medium with linear elastic behaviour in Laplace transform domain is presented...
In this paper, the strength of a sandstone is determined from a micromechanical approach. The microstructure of the rock is described as a porous polycrystal. A von Mises criterion is used for the strength of the solid grains. The grains are surrounded by Mohr–Coulomb interfaces describing the cement phase. The macroscopic strength of the polycrystal is determined by means of nonlinear homogenization...
The paper discusses the determination of a set of constants for the high‐cycle accumulation model (HCA) proposed by the authors. The HCA model predicts permanent strains or excess pore water pressures in non‐cohesive soils due to a cyclic loading with a large number of cycles and with small to intermediate strain amplitudes. The laboratory tests necessary for the determination of the material constants...
This study investigates the effect of a heat‐treatment upon the thermo‐mechanical behaviour of a model cement‐based material, i.e. a normalized mortar, with a (w/c) ratio of 0.5. First, a whole set of varied experimental results is provided, in order to either identify or validate a thermo‐mechanical constitutive model, presented in the second paper part. Experimental responses of both hydraulic and...
A mathematical model is developed for the dynamic analysis of earthquake‐triggered rapid landslides, considering two mechanically coupled systems: (a) the accelerating deformable body of the slide and (b) the rapidly deforming shear band at the base of the slide. The main body of the slide is considered as a one‐phase mixture of Newtonian incompressible fluids and Coulomb solids sliding on a plane...
Two formulations for calculating dynamic response of a cylindrical cavity in cross‐anisotropic porous media based on complex functions theory are presented. The basis of the method is the solution of Biot's consolidation equations in the complex plane. Employing two groups of potential functions for solid skeleton and pore fluid (each group includes three functions), the u–w formulation of Biot's...
Transient changes in the permeability of fractures in systems driven far‐from‐equilibrium are described in terms of proxy roles of stress, temperature and chemistry. The combined effects of stress and temperature are accommodated in the response of asperity bridges where mineral mass is mobilized from the bridge to the surrounding fluid. Mass balance within the fluid accommodates mineral mass either...
Groundwater levels vary with precipitation and other environmental impacts, rendering wetting and drying cycles in parts of a slope. It may be quite disadvantageous, as groundwater has been implicated as a crucial controlling factor in slope stability. The wetting–drying cycles can be considered as cyclic loads for the slope. In such cases, a shakedown analysis is appropriate for the long‐term safety...
When three dimensional, bonded discrete element models (DEMs) are deployed to model intact rock, a basic question is how to determine the micro parameters that control macro properties of the modeled rock. After briefly describing the authors' DEM code, this paper describes algorithms to calibrate the model's micro parameters against standard laboratory tests, such as uniaxial and triaxial tests....