Nonlocal Multilaminate Model for Strain Softening Analysis

Abstract

A constitutive model formulated within the multilaminate framework is described in this paper. The basic model, incorporating deviatoric and volumetric hardening, was developed for normally consolidated or slightly overconsolidated clay. This model has been extended to account for shear softening by using a nonlocal formulation. The nonlocal plasticity is based on weighted average of plastic strains taken from neighboring material points within a certain distance which is a function of an internal length parameter. This parameter is related to the mean grain size that restricts the element size. By using a softening scaling this restriction can be eliminated and the model is therefore capable of simulating geotechnical boundary value problems. The capability of the model for simulating strain softening behavior is shown by numerical simulation of biaxial tests. Finally, the ground response curve obtained from the proposed model for excavation of a tunnel in soil is discussed.