Modified unified critical state model for soils considering over-consolidation and cyclic loading behaviours

Abstract

Abstract This paper presents a modified unified critical state model to predict the mechanical responses of both clays and sands under over-consolidation and cyclic loading conditions on the basis of clay and sand model (CASM), which is named as CASM-kII. Through the application of subloading surface concept, CASM-kII is able to describe the plastic deformation inside the yield surface and the reverse plastic flow, and is thus expected to capture the over-consolidation and cyclic loading behaviours of soils. CASM-kII is numerical implemented by the using of the forward Euler scheme with automatic substepping and error control. Then, a sensitivity study is carried out to check the influences of the three new parameters of CASM-kII on the mechanical response of soils in over-consolidation and cyclic loading conditions. Through the comparisons of experimental data and simulated results, it is found that CASM-kII is able to satisfactorily describe the mechanical responses of both clays and sands in over-consolidation and cyclic loading conditions.