A structured constitutive model for simulating the behaviour of an overconsolidated bonded clay

Abstract

The paper presents some improvements in the formulation of a kinematic hardening constitutive soil model incorporating structure initially proposed for soft clays. For the modelling of overconsolidated bonded clay the elastic formulation was deemed more important. Two different alternatives, one purely empirically based the other with a background in thermodynamics were implemented. It was also found that a smooth elasto-plastic transition was required to avoid a spurious stiffness degradation response. Consequently, the hardening modulus formulation of the model was modified. The paper presents some results from a parametric analysis of the triaxial drained response of a material tailored to mimic London clay. The results chosen do not show a major difference between the chosen alternative elastic formulations, although both do improve the original model response. On the other hand the importance of ensuring a smooth elasto-plastic transition is clearly highlighted.