Modelling the influence of stress–strain history on the initial shear stiffness of an unsaturated compacted silt

2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 463-472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Vassallo ◽  
Claudio Mancuso ◽  
Filippo Vinale

This is the follow-up paper to Vassallo et al. (2007), which discussed the experimentally observed small-strain behaviour of an unsaturated compacted silt. The influence that suction and, more in general, mean net stress – suction history has on the initial shear stiffness was analysed and ascribed to the accumulation of irreversible volumetric strains. In this study, a model able to predict the observed behaviour is proposed, based on classical unsaturated soil volumetric hardening elastoplastic formulations. Starting from the interpretation of the results relative to simple stress paths, such as preliminary equalization and loading–unloading compression, the results of "complex" stress paths, such as those including drying–wetting cycles, have subsequently been modelled by introducing some additional parameters.Key words: unsaturated, compacted, small strain, stiffness, volumetric behaviour, stress history.

Author(s):  
Martin Kristoffersen ◽  
Tore Børvik ◽  
Lars Olovsson

In areas frequented by fishing vessels, trawl equipment or anchors may interfere with pipelines and cause damage through impact, potential hooking, and ensuing release of the pipeline. This load sequence of denting followed by global bending and springback results in a complex stress and strain history. Experiments have shown that fracture in an impacted pipe typically arises along the bottom of the dent, where the material suffers high compressive strains in the impact and hooking phase, and a rapid change to tension during the rebound phase. High compressive strains may reduce the strain to failure significantly for a succeeding tensile phase. A common trait of ductile damage models is to account for damage through nucleation, growth and coalescence of voids, which traditionally is thought to occur during tension. In this study, an uncoupled phenomenological Cockcroft-Latham-type fracture model accounting for anisotropic damage is used. The fracture model is implemented in the explicit finite element programme IMPETUS Afea Solver, and calibrated using material tests. Simulations show that the proposed fracture model is able to account for the observed behaviour.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 311-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahnoosh Biglari ◽  
Anna d’Onofrio ◽  
Claudio Mancuso ◽  
Mohammad Kazem Jafari ◽  
Ali Shafiee ◽  
...  

An experimental study has been carried out to investigate the effects of isotropic compression, wetting, and drying on the initial shear stiffness of Zenoz kaolin, an unsaturated lean clay, both in normally consolidated and overconsolidated conditions. The proposed study was conducted using fixed–free resonant column – torsional shear (RCTS). Specimens were compacted using the undercompaction technique. Initial shear stiffness was measured almost continuously along complex stress paths including (i) an initial equalization stage to a suction value of 0, 50, 150, and 300 kPa; (ii) an isotropic compression stage at constant suction, up to a net stress high enough to move the loading collapse line; (iii) an isotropic unloading stage at constant suction; (iv) a wetting and (or) drying path. The mentioned stress path allowed elimination or determination of the overconsolidation effect on the initial shear stiffness measured. The behavior observed is qualitatively similar to that of saturated soil, while wetting data clearly indicate that G0 depends significantly on volumetric behavior. In normally consolidated samples where wetting is accompanied by collapse, reduction in suction has no remarkable effect on G0. Conversely, in overconsolidated samples G0 reduces significantly as suction decreases.


2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.W.W. Ng ◽  
J. Xu

Although the small-strain shear modulus of saturated soils is known to be significantly affected by stress history, consisting of the overconsolidation ratio (OCR) and recent stress history, the effects of suction history on the small-strain shear modulus of unsaturated soils have rarely been reported. In this study, the effects of suction history, which refers to current suction ratio (CSR) and recent suction history, on both the very-small-strain shear modulus (G0) and shear modulus reduction curve of an unsaturated soil, are investigated by carrying out constant net mean stress compression triaxial tests with bender elements and local strain measurements. In addition, the effect of suction magnitude on G0 and the shear modulus reduction curve is also investigated. At a given suction, G0, elastic threshold strain (εe), and the rate of shear modulus reduction all increase with CSR. On the other hand, the effect of recent suction history on G0 is not significant. The effect of direction of recent suction path (θ) on the shear modulus reduction curve is not distinct. However, the magnitude of recent suction path (l) affects the shear modulus reduction curve significantly when θ = –90°.


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (4) ◽  
pp. 447-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Vassallo ◽  
Claudio Mancuso ◽  
Filippo Vinale

An experimental study was carried out to investigate the effects of the mean net stress and suction history on the initial shear stiffness, G0, of a compacted clayey silt. Isotropic tests were performed using two suction-controlled devices, a triaxial cell and a resonant column torsional shear (RCTS) cell, so as to investigate the volumetric behaviour of this material. As for saturated soils, one can expect to find a strong correlation among stress history, volumetric state, and G0. Initial shear stiffness was measured almost continuously along various isotropic stress paths, including compressions and drying–wetting single stages or cycles, by using the RCTS cell. The collected data demonstrate a strong dependency of G0 on mean net stress (p – ua) and suction (ua – uw). Cycles of suction, in particular increasing suction beyond the past maximum value, induce significant accumulation of irreversible strains and increase of stiffness, confirming that G0 is not univocally related to the stress state (p – ua, ua – uw).Key words: unsaturated, compacted, small strain, stiffness, volumetric behaviour, stress history.


Polymer ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 24 (11) ◽  
pp. 1495-1501 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.B. McKenna ◽  
L.J. Zapas

2013 ◽  
Vol 631-632 ◽  
pp. 782-788
Author(s):  
Cheng Chen ◽  
Zheng Ming Zhou

Soils have nonlinear stiffness and develops irrecoverable strains even at very small strain levels. Accurate modeling of stress-strain behaviour at various strain levels is very important for predicting the deformation of soils. Some existing stress-strain models are reviewed and evaluated firstly. And then a new simple non-linear stress-strain model is proposed. Four undetermined parameters involved in the proposed model can be obtained through maximum Young’s module, deformation module, and limit deviator stress and linearity index of soils that can be measured from experiment directly or calculated by empirical formulas indirectly. The effectiveness of the proposed stress-strain model is examined by predicting stress-strain curves measured in plane-strain compression test on Toyota sand and undrained triaxial compression test on London clay. The fitting results of the proposed model are in good agreement with experimental data, which verify the effectiveness of the model.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document