Calibration of a generalized plasticity model for compacted silty sand under constant-suction shearing tests

The stress-strain response of compacted silty sand with over-consolidated stress history often exhibit distinct peak stress before reaching the critical stress type of response when subjected to suction-controlled triaxial shearing. Such heavily consolidated soil also tends to simultaneously manifest initial compression which transitions into dilational type volumetric response. Modelling such strain-softening type response, especially emulating the smooth transition from peak to critical state is a challenge. In this paper a previously developed generalized plasticity constitutive model, called MPZ (Modified Pastor-Zienkiewicz) is fine-tuned and calibrated using a set of suction-controlled consolidated drained triaxial tests conducted on compacted silty sand specimens. Firstly, the saturated and unsaturated silty sand characteristics and the experimental test program are briefly introduced. Secondly, the calibration of each component of the constitutive model, namely critical state, dilatancy, peak state, loading direction, water retention curve and bounding function are briefly explained. Furthermore, the material parameters are estimated, model performance is displayed, and finally discussed. Preliminary simulations show that the MPZ model is able to mimic overall suction controlled triaxial test response of compacted silty sand decently well by taking into account the changes in density, pressure and suction. However, the peak states are not accurately modelled for low-high suction levels which needs further modifications in proposed model.

Modeling Static Behavior of Rockfill Materials Based on Generalized Plasticity Model

Rockfill materials are commonly used for dam construction. Establishing an effective model that can reasonably describe the mechanical properties of rockfill material is very important for the calculation of earth-rock dam engineering. Based on the generalized plasticity model of sand, a modified generalized plasticity model suitable for rockfill material is established by modifying the plastic modulus. Focusing on three types of stress paths (e.g., CT test, CP test, and CR test), the stress path adaptability of the modified generalized plasticity is studied. Simulation results show that the proposed model can well predict the strength characteristics while it underestimates the shrinkage characteristics of rockfill materials for constant P test. It is difficult for the generalized plasticity model to predict larger radial shrinkage strain for constant stress ratio tests. This shortcoming can be improved by employing a modified dilatancy equation. Finally, by introducing critical state theory and considering the effect of initial void ratio on plastic modulus, a state-dependent generalized plasticity model is proposed and verified by experiment of granite rockfill materials and TRM with different void ratios. These works covers the most common stress paths related to the construction of earth-rock dams and can capture static behavior of rockfill materials.

An Enhanced Generalized Plasticity Model for Coarse Granular Material considering Particle Breakage

In this study, an enhanced constitutive model is developed for coarse granular soil within the framework of generalized plasticity (Pastor, Zienkiewicz, and Chan, 1990). In this model, particle breakage is also considered by introducing the state parameter and the compression index into the plastic modulus, loading vectors, and plastic flow direction vectors of a generalized plasticity model. The calibration of constitutive parameters of the enhanced model is addressed in detail. The numerical simulation of triaxial tests for two types of coarse granular soils under different confining pressures is carried out to illustrate the particle breakage performance of the enhanced model. The good agreement between numerical results and experimental data indicates that the enhanced model can accurately characterize the influence of particle breakage on essential behavior of coarse granular soils.