1.

5 Const i t ut i ve l aws for soils f rom a physi cal vi ewpoi nt

Gerd Gudehus
1 I n t r o d u c t i o n
1. 1 Mo t i v e a n d o b j e c t i v e
When a block foundation was pushed into the ground by a skew load near Karlsruhe
1990, the participating experts were disappointed that none of their predictions agreed
satisfactorily with the observations. The ground, with horizontal layers of silt, fine and
gravelly sand, had been meticulously investigated, but apparently its behaviour could not
be adequately described by the different constitutive relations and material parameters.
Nobody had anticipated the pre-stress in the grain skeleton due to capillarity in the unsat-
urated region which only made some of the calculations realistic afterwards. A sheet-pile
wall was later driven into the same ground and a pit was excavated down to groundwater
next to it. Again predicted and observed displacements deviated substantially from each
other, but some predictors could at least calculate reasonably the limit state caused by
yielding struts. The results of the calculations and observations could only be brought
close to each other afterwards by adaption of the soil parameters. One must therefore ask
- what is the use of constitutive laws and material parameters, which apparently play a
key role, if even in such simple cases big differences occur between different predictions
and reality?
The problem is not new, but has been aggravated by the increasing power of computers
and correspondingly increased expectations. The user would like to know - which consti-
tutive relation is applicable, how can the material parameters be determined practicably and
reliably, which initial and boundary conditions are compatible with the latter and which
numerical discretization and iteration is appropriate f or solving the problem. Objectivity
and robustness of mechanical models depend mainly on the constitutive relation and the
associated data. The attempts at prediction mentioned above were not the first efforts
towards clarification and agreement. Constitutive laws have been compared with each
other and with laboratory data in several workshops. New and modified constitutive laws
are continuously published in periodicals and conference proceedings. Many of these
papers are not even tractable, others are only available to a few insiders and the determi-
nation of the parameters is rarely outlined. On the other hand, over-simplified and often
unverified constitutive relations are often used in practice.
At the XIth International Conference for Soil Mechanics and Foundation Engineering, a
Japanese working group produced the report ' Constitutive Laws of Soil' [19]. Microme-
chanical aspects, elastoplastic constitutive relations, viscous effects and dynamical prob-
lems were clearly outlined and have remained mostly valid until now. A survey was missing
however, and little was said about the application of the laws. My own contribution on
constitutive laws in the previous Grundbau-Taschenbuch gives a more concise overview,
but even this is not enough for the user.
208 Gerd Gudehus
The pr e s e nt c ont r i but i on is t he r e f or e t he r es ul t of a t hor ough r evi ew of t he s i t uat i on
a nd s houl d b e t t e r me e t t he wi shes of users. I t is conf i ned t o soi l s wi t h u n c e me n t e d gr ai n
s ke l e t ons and t h e r e f o r e a l r e a dy cover s a ver y wi de r ange. The a p p r o a c h is physi cal and
t h e r e f o r e u n c o mmo n t o ma ny e xpe r t s on cons t i t ut i ve r el at i ons. I n my opi ni on, cons t i t ut i ve
l aws have t o r e l a t e t o phys i cal s t at e va r i a bl e s and t hei r changes r eal i st i cal l y. I n t he fi rst
ma i n s ect i on soi l s t at es and t hei r changes a r e t he r e f or e c ove r e d in det ai l . Cons t i t ut i ve l aws
i n a n a r r o we r s ens e f ol l ow in t he s e c ond ma i n s ect i on and s ome ext ens i ons of t he t he or y
ar e i nc l ude d at t he end. The s el ect i on, or ga ni s a t i on a nd r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t he ma t e r i a l is
unus ual .
Thi s c ont r i but i on is ma i nl y di r e c t e d at users, but al so t o de ve l ope r s of cons t i t ut i ve equa-
t i ons. Some k n o wl e d g e of physi cs a nd c ont i nuum mechani cs is as s umed, as a h a n d b o o k
c a nnot gi ve such a de t a i l e d e xpl a na t i on as a t e xt book. Ab o v e al l t he r e a d e r s houl d ke e p in
mi nd t he char act er i s t i cs of t he r eal soi l a nd i t s change by geot echni cal act i ons, and s houl d
cr i t i cal l y r evi ew cons t i t ut i ve l aws be f or e wor ki ng wi t h t hem.
1. 2 C o n t e n t s
The de s c r i pt i on of t he soi l s t at e ( Sect i on 2.1.1) s t ar t s f r om t he f unda me nt a l di f f er ence
b e t we e n mol e c ul e s and grai ns. The l a t t e r ar e c ha nge d by e nc ount e r s and t he r e f or e ar e
ne ve r al l equal , can not be pr eci s el y de s c r i be d a nd t hei r i nt e r a c t i on is di ssi pat i ve. The
pos i t i on of f i ct i t i ous ma r k e r gr ai ns is a p p r o p r i a t e as a s t at e var i abl e, whe r e a s t he def or -
ma t i o n does not say anyt hi ng a bout t he soi l st at e. The st at e of s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons is
wi del y de s c r i be d by t he sol i d f r act i on a nd t he gr ai n pr e s s ur e t ensor . Pr e s s ur e and mas s
f r act i ons of p o r e wa t e r have t o be i nc l ude d t oo a nd e xc e pt i ona l l y gas pr e s s ur e and i on
f r act i ons. I ns t e a d of t he s ymbol s o' and u, whi ch ar e r e s e r ve d f or t ensi l e st r ess and di s-
p l a c e me n t in mechani cs , ps and pw a r e us ed f or t he pa r t i a l pr es s ur es of t he sol i d and
t he wa t e r and pw is not r e d u c e d by t he a t mos phe r i c pr es s ur e. Vel oci t i es of t he sol i d
a nd t he por e wa t e r nor ma l l y have t o be a dde d. Fu r t h e r s t at e quant i t i es f or des cr i bi ng
f l uct uat i ons a nd l ocal i zat i on zones can al so be i nt r oduc e d f or a b e t t e r de s c r i pt i on of t he
mat er i al .
Re l a t i ons b e t we e n s t at e quant i t i es a r e d e n o t e d as ' s t at e c ondi t i ons ' in whi ch de f or ma -
t i ons do not occur ( Sect i on 2.1.2). The s e a r e of a t h e r mo d y n a mi c na t ur e f or por e l i qui d
a nd gas. The we l l - known s e pa r a t i on i nt o s ke l e t on and por e wa t e r pr e s s ur e is j ust i f i ed by
t he p r e s s u r e - i n d e p e n d e n c y of bot h f r act i ons and can be e x t e n d e d t o uns a t ur a t e d gr ai n
s kel et ons . Pr e s s u r e - d e p e n d e n t voi d r at i os ar e p r e s e n t e d in a gr a nul a r pha s e di a gr a m as
a s ympt ot i c val ues f or p r o p o r t i o n a l c ompr e s s i on, c ons t a nt vol ume mo n o t o n o u s de f or ma -
t i on and i s obar i c cycl i c d e f o r ma t i o n of s i mpl e gr ai n s kel et ons , as l ong as t hes e ar e gr anu-
l ome t r i c a l l y p e r ma n e n t . Thes e a s ympt ot i c s t at es s ubs t i t ut e c onve nt i ona l l i mi t st at es and
s er ve as r es t r ai nt s f or cons t i t ut i ve r el at i ons. Bo u n d a r y condi t i ons ar e br i ef l y i ndi cat ed,
as t hey have t o be c o mp a t i b l e wi t h t he ma t e r i a l pr oper t i es . The r ol e of i ni t i al condi t i ons
is e mpha s i z e d f or fi xi ng i ni t i al st at es, a l t hough t hey ar e r a r e l y di s t i ngui s hed in a phys i cal
sense.
The s ect i on on f abr i c ( Sect i on 2.1.3) i l l us t r at es t hat me a n val ues do not ge ne r a l l y suffice
f or des cr i bi ng t he s t at e of soi l . Sys t emat i c i r r egul ar i t i es in t he a r r a n g e me n t and t he f or ces
of par t i cl es can be de s c r i be d in pr i nci pl e, but t hey a r e r a r e l y al l owed f or in cons t i t ut i ve
laws. Di f f e r e nt l engt h scal es f r om par t i cl e si ze t o l a ye r t hi cknes s ar e ne gl e c t e d when
r es t r i ct i ng t he a s s e s s me nt t o me a n val ues, a l t hough t hey can pl ay a bi g r ol e.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 209
Changes of state of simple grain skel et ons are descri bed with the aid of so-called soil ele-
ment s (Section 2.2.1). Shortening is used for def or mat i on rel at ed to pressure to precisely
define some mat eri al propert i es with the aid of fami l i ar diagrams, in part i cul ar friction and
dilatancy. The grain skel et on behavi our under al t ernat i ng loading patterns, particularly
stress or strain cycles, is represent ed with the aid of associated pat hs and the differential
stiffness is r epr esent ed by so-called response polars.
The t hermal activation is t reat ed in detail (Section 2.2.2), as it is decisive for the viscoplastic
grain skel et on behavi our and the fluid t r anspor t in the por e space. The associated mechan-
ical activation is only briefly indicated, as it is physically less under st ood and can t her ef or e
only be covered heuristically by constitutive relations. Inevi t abl y heuristical relationships
are also stability considerations, with soil el ement s following mol ecul ar dynamics. This
illustrates t hat convent i onal rupt ure and failure criteria for describing soil behavi our are
not adequat e f r om a physical viewpoint, and also not required.
Some geotechnically rel evant mechani sms in eart h bodi es and on structural part s in con-
tact with t hem are briefly i nt roduced (Sections 2.3.2 and 2.3.3). Feat ures of stabilization
and destabilization, including r ear r angement s and pressure changes for the grain skele-
tons and also t hermal activation in the grain skel et on and the por e fluid, are emphasi zed.
This leads to hints on constitutive laws.
The next mai n section starts with elasticity allowing for skel et on pressure and the degree
of sat urat i on (Section 3.1.1). Pseudoelastic finite constitutive rel at i ons are only briefly
ment i oned, as t hey can at best onl y be used for crude est i mat es (Section 3.1.2). How the
accumul at i on of anelastic changes of shape and stress under al t ernat i ng loadings can be
appr oxi mat ed by analytical expressions (Section 3.1.3) is also briefly covered. Fl ow and
creep laws rel at ed to t hermal activation are t r eat ed with similar brevity.
Starting f r om perfect solids, elastoplasticity with simple flow condition and associated flow
rule is outlined without special represent at i ons of functions (Section 3.2.1). Vol umet ri c
hardeni ng or softening is covered by means of an equi val ent skel et on pressure, which
covers several of the usual constitutive relations. Ext ensi ons to the rel at i ons are briefly
i nt roduced by diagrams, and criteria are pr oposed for selection f r om a wide choice of
elastoplastic constitutive rel at i ons (Section 3.2.2). The ext ensi on into viscoplasticity t hen
is simple, due to the uni form effect of t hermal act i vat i on (Section 3.2.3).
For describing changes of state due to the def or mat i on of grain skel et ons by r ear r ange-
ments, hypopl ast i ci t y has become equi val ent to elastoplasticity in many applications (Sec-
tion 3.3.1). It is also mor e easily outlined and used. The few easily det er mi nabl e mat eri al
par amet er s are valid for a wide range of density and pressure. The default of t oo rapi d
an increase of changes of pressure and shape under al t ernat i ng loading with small defor-
mat i on ampl i t udes and a number of cycles, is r emoved by t he so-called i nt ergranul ar
strain. The evol ut i on of this and the differential stiffness rel at ed to it are briefly out l i ned
(Section 3.3.2). An extension of the t heory for viscous effects is very briefly out l i ned
(Section 3.3.3).
Physico-chemical and granul omet ri c changes ares only ment i oned in passing as t hey are,
as yet, scarcely allowed by constitutive rel at i ons (Section 4.1). Transport laws for the
por e fluid are rel at ed to t hermal activation and the mechanically act i vat ed t r anspor t of
grains is briefly indicated (Section 4.2). Some , proaches for dealing with shear bands
are i nt roduced as t hey can be used for i nt erface _Jements. The cracking of grain skel et ons
is only briefly referred to as physically justified i nt erface el ement s are scarcely avai l abl e
for it yet (Section 4.3).
210 Gerd Gudehus
The list of r ef er ences has been kept small wi t h onl y a few books and paper s given as
exampl es. Thi s is not t o emphas i ze or set aside any of t he numer ous cont r i but i ons on con-
st i t ut i ve relations. I asked 13 exper t s t o give det ai l ed i nf or mat i on on t he mat hemat i cal ,
physi cal and exper i ment al aspect s as well as on t he r ange of appl i cat i ons and verification.
I woul d like t o t hank Pr of s Ar sl an, Hashi guchi , Mol enkamp, Nova and Vogt for t hei r
val uabl e cont r i but i ons. However , t he fact t hat even t hey coul d not answer some ques-
t i ons shows t he size of t he pr obl em. My pr opos al t o rel ease some of t he pr ocedur es f or
const i t ut i ve r el at i ons on t he I nt er net has onl y been accept ed until now (July 2000) by
fol l owers of hypopl ast i ci t y.
2 St at es and c hange s o f s t at e
2.1 States
2.1.1 Description of state
The st at e of a syst em of pe r ma ne nt at oms or mol ecul es is fully descr i bed by t he posi -
t i ons and vel oci t i es of all t he part i cl es [4]. Changes of state resul t f r om conser vat i on laws
and i nt er act i on pot ent i al s, gener al l y i ncl udi ng ext er nal gravi t at i onal and el ect r omagnet i c
fields. The f or ces a mong t he part i cl es (cal l ed conser vat i ve) resul t f r om t hei r rel at i ve posi -
t i on via t he spat i al deri vat i ve of t he i nt er act i on pot ent i al s, in general , and al so f r om rel at i ve
velocities. For t he macr os copi c descr i pt i on of t he equi l i br i um st at es of gases and fluids,
t emper at ur e and densi t y suffice, f r om whi ch t he pr essur e is uni quel y obt ai ned by equa-
t i ons of state. For i deal solids, i. e. homoge ne ous crystals, t he stress t ensor is obt ai ned f r om
t he st ret chi ng of t he cryst al l at t i ce c ompa r e d t o t he st ress-free state. I n col l oi d physics,
i dent i cal pe r ma ne nt part i cl es and i nt er act i on forces det er mi ned by t hei r mut ual posi t i on
( and in gener al vel oci t y) are assumed, and equat i ons of state are obt ai ned f or t he mean
values.
For soils, however , t he solid part i cl es (grai ns) are never all equal and ar e al so not per ma-
nent , and t he non- cons er vat i ve i nt er act i on forces do not fol l ow f r om t he mut ual posi t i on
as t he part i cl es are changed by encount er s. The met hods of t her modynami cs can onl y be
appl i ed t o t he por e fluid and t o i nt erfaces bet ween solid, liquid and gaseous const i t uent s.
The numer i cal f ol l owi ng- up of all grai ns ( gr anul ar dynami cs) can, as yet , yi el d onl y quali-
t at i ve resul t s becaus e of i nevi t abl e simplifications. At t e mpt s are made t o cat ch size, shape
and har dness of grai ns statistically. Such gr anul omet r i c quant i t i es cannot preci sel y be
defi ned and are t her ef or e f uzzy and part i al l y subjective. The boundar i es of granulomet-
rically homogeneous regions as layers, i ncl usi ons and faults t her ef or e have t o be sui t abl y
simplified.
The st at e of a simple grain skeleton is sufficiently descr i bed by mean values. The r equi r ed
st at e vari abl es are, as a mi ni mum, t he solid vol ume f r act i on ns and t he symmet r i c part i al
stress t ensor Ts of t he skel et on or an equi val ent (e. g. t he voi d r at i o e = ns/(1 - ns),
or t he densi t y i ndex Id as out l i ned in Sect i on 2.1.2 and t he grai n pr essur e t ensor wher e
Ps = - Ts ) . The posi t i on is descr i bed by t he coor di nat e Xs of fictitious ma r ke r grains.
Ot he r t han f or an elastic solid, t he def or mat i on is not a state vari abl e of t he soil.
Cr oss sect i ons wi t h isolines, gr ey or col our tints (Fig. 1) are appr opr i at e f or graphi cal
r epr es ent at i on of t he field of solid fract i ons. A l oos ened shear zone appear s as band or
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 211
I
0,5
1
Fig. 1. Representation of the field of pressure-corrected density index (Eq. 2.20) using grey tints
l i ne. I f t he pi ct ur e is not t he s a me f or pa r a l l e l pl anes ( pl a ne - pa r a l l e l or pl a ne s t at e) s ever al
cr oss s ect i ons ar e r equi r ed.
Wi t h t he gr ai n pr e s s ur e ps = t r Ps a ve r a ge d ove r al l di r e c t i ons ( p ' in soi l mechani cs
c onve nt i on) t he de vi a t or
T~ = T s + p s l (P~ = Ps - p s l ) (2.1)
is obt a i ne d. Fr o m t he st r ess vect or ts = T~ n, r e l a t e d t o t he di r e c t i on n, t he n o r ma l pr e s s ur e
Psn = nTPs n (2.2)
( c onve nt i ona l l y cr t) and t he s he a r st r ess
Tn = ~ ] P s n 12 _p2 n
( 2 . 3 )
ar e obt a i ne d. The pr i nc i pa l st r ess or pr e s s ur e c o mp o n e n t s Ps 1 ( = - Ts 1), Ps2 a nd ps3 wi t h
n - - 0 act i n t he t hr e e pr i nc i pa l di r ect i ons. Us ef ul i nvar i ant s ar e, a pa r t f r om p s , t he
s pat i al l y a v e r a g e d s he a r st r ess
~m = t ~ s * 2 / 5
(2.4)
a nd t he s o- cal l ed Lo d e - p a r a me t e r (Fi g. 3c)
cos 3s = ~/6 t rT*3/ (t rTs*2) 3/2 (2. 5)
For gr aphi cal r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t he s ke l e t on st r ess fi el d, s ect i ons wi t h pr i nc i pa l st r ess
cr osses can be us ed (Fi g. 2a). Two pr i nc i pa l st r ess c o mp o n e n t s Psi and ps2 a nd t hei r
di r ect i ons ar e t hus r e p r e s e n t e d f or pl a ne - pa r a l l e l st at es, but not t he t hi r d pr i nc i pa l st r ess
c o mp o n e n t Ps3 (Ps3 ~ ( Ps 1 + P s 2 ) / 3 ne a r l y hol ds) . The di r e c t i ona l f i el d l eads t o t r a j e c t or i e s
whi ch can be s een as pr e s s ur e - s pr e a di ng l i nes, f or c ur va t ur e s wi t h onl y one si gn and al so
as ar chi ng lines. Non- pl a ne - pa r a l l e l s t at es can be r e p r e s e n t e d by pr oj e c t i on i nt o t wo
or t hogona l f ami l i es of pa r a l l e l s ect i on pl anes. Ex c e p t f or s y mme t r y pl anes, t he r e ar e no
t r a j e c t or i e s and al so no l i nes of ar chi ng or pr e s s ur e s pr eadi ng. The vect or s of pr e s s ur e
212 Gerd Gudehus
I
A
B + p s 2 ~ p s 1
I
+ + t
+ c + + m I
I
I
I
a b
Fig. 2. Representation of grain pressure fields with stress crosses (a) or vectors (b)
and shear stress can be r epr es ent ed al ong sect i on lines (Fig. 2b). Spat i al st at es r equi r e t wo
or t hogona l fami l i es of paral l el sect i on planes. One can r epr esent simplified pr essur e fields
wi t h sect i onal l y assumed di st ri but i ons and resul t ant s and can al so allow f or equi l i br i um
condi t i ons (i ncl udi ng uplift and seepage f or ce f r om por e wat er).
Di f f er ent di agr ams are sui t abl e f or r epr es ent i ng l ocal stresses (Fig. 3). Stresses and pri nci -
pal c ompone nt s are r epr es ent ed by stress circles, wher e t he pol e al so shows di rect i ons (a).
Pri nci pal pr essur e c ompone nt s appear as poi nt s on t he pl anes in a stress space. The pl ane
Ps2 = Ps3 (b) is f r equent l y used, and al so t he cent r al pr oj ect i on t o Ps = 1 (c). Several
poi nt s of an ear t h body can t hus be r epr es ent ed in one figure, however this r epr es ent at i on
is not compl et e.
The st at e of t he grai n skel et on is wi del y r epr es ent ed by t he field of solid f r act i ons and
gr ai n pr essur e t ensor s wi t h ma r ke d posi t i ons, but not compl et el y. I f t he grai n pr oper t i es
ar e subst ant i al l y changed by t echni cal act i ons - e. g. under pile f oot i ngs or in a bal l ast
t r ack - one has t o i nt r oduce gr anul omet r i c variables. The mechani cal behavi our is al so
subst ant i al l y changed by i rregul ari t i es of t he mut ual posi t i ons and forces of t he solid
part i cl es ( Sect i on 2.1.3).
The st at e o f p o r e w a t e r a n d g a s is al so ext ensi vel y descr i bed by mass and pr essur e fractions,
but not compl et el y. Vol ume f r act i on n w and pr essur e p w are t aken f or t he por e wat er ( or
t he wat er cont ent w = p ~ n w / ( p s n s ) , or t he degr ee of sat ur at i on Sr = n w / ( 1 - n s ) and
"q,
p ~ ~n Psn
I Psi
Ps2( . ~Sn~ps 1 ~ Psi
. Psl-Psm/3
Ps 1 "Ps2
A C
C e B eB
Ps
Ps3 -Psrn/3
Ps2 "Psm/3
b c
Fig. 3. Representation of stress states by stress circles (a), two principal components (b) and
pressure-normalised deviators (c)
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 213
t he por e pr essur e u = p w - Pa r ef er r ed t o t he at mos pher i c pr essur e P a ) . T h e gas f r act i on
ng = 1 - ns - n w, t he gas pr essur e p g , and t he mol ar f r act i ons m i and mg of i ons and
gas mol ecul es di ssol ved in t he por e wat er al so have t o be added. Wi t h gas pocket s or
channel s, such me a n val ues do not suffice ( Sect i on 2.1.3).
The descr i pt i on of st at e is compl et ed by i ncl udi ng velocities. The vel oci t y Vs = Xs and t he
st r et chi ng r at e D ---- (Vvs - VsV)/2 bel ong t o t he grai n skel et on. The vel oci t y vw of t he
por e wat er is f r equent l y used as st at e var i abl e and is obj ect i vel y r epl aced by vw - vs in
t he case of grai n skel et on r ear r angement s. Part i al vel oci t i es of ot her fluid f r act i ons r ar el y
have t o be added. The absol ut e t emper at ur e T is s el dom explicitly al l owed for, al t hough
it is at least effect i ve vi a t her mal act i vat i on (Sect i ons 2.2.2 and 2.3.1).
The state of t he por e wat er can be gr aphi cal l y r epr es ent ed by t he pot ent i al and t he
vel oci t y fields. The pot ent i al , whi ch can be r epr es ent ed by t he hydr aul i c head, can al so
i mpl y suct i on in uns at ur at ed regions. The r epr es ent at i on wi t h st r eaml i nes is onl y adequat e
in case of st at i onari t y, ot her wi se t he pat hs of wat er devi at e f r om t hem. Two fami l i es
of paral l el sect i on pl anes are r equi r ed f or spat i al states. Simplified r epr es ent at i ons ar e
obt ai ned wi t h sect i onal l y assumed di st ri but i ons and resul t ant s of wat er pr essur e and flow,
whi ch can be used f or est i mat i ng forces at t he gr ai n skel et on and f or t aki ng i nt o account
t he mass bal ance.
2. 1. 2 Condi t i ons o f state
Ap a r t f r om ext r emel y r api d changes of state, whi ch ar e onl y encount er ed wi t h bl ast i ng,
l ocal (i. e. in regi ons cover i ng a few grai n sizes) por e liquid and gas ar e pr act i cal l y in
t he r modyna mi c equi l i br i um [1]. The i deal g a s e q u a t i o n
pg Vg = n MR T (2.6)
in whi ch t he gas const ant is R can be used if t he gas quant i t y n M, expr essed in mol , of t he
gas vol ume Vg is known. The Vg of a cl osed soil sampl e can t hen be de t e r mi ne d (e. g. by
t he pyknome t e r test). One can al so cal cul at e t he vol ume or t he pr essur e of gas bubbl es
wi t h Eq. 2.6 if t hese r emai n cl osed and t he gas quant i t y is known, i. e. if al so t he f r act i on
of gas di ssol ved in wat er is al l owed for.
Por e wat er is i ncompr essabl e in t he pr essur e r ange of soil mechani cs. It s pr essur e p~ is
bounde d f r om bel ow: At t he i nt erfaces bet ween wat er and air t he equat i ons of K e l v i n
pg - p w = R T v ~ 1 ln(1/~p) (2.7)
and of L a p l a c e
pg - p w = 2 a w / r w (2.8)
hol d. Wher e qJ = P v / P v s is defi ned by t he vapor pr essur e pv and its val ue pvs f or vapor
sat ur at i on as rel at i ve humi di t y, vw is t he mol ar vol ume of wat er, c~oj t he surface ener gy
bet ween wat er and air, and rw is t he r esul t ant cur vat ur e of t he i nt erface, gi ven by
2 / r w = 1 / R1 + 1 / R2 (2.9)
wi t h t he pri nci pal cur vat ur e radii R1 und R2. I f gas penet r at es i nt o t he por e space bet ween
grai ns of t he me a n size ds ( c a p i l l a r y e n t r y ) t he cur vat ur e has t he or der of magni t ude
214 Gerd Gudehus
1/ rw ,~ lO/ds, whi ch wi t h cr~ ~ 7 10 - 5 k Nm -1 l eads t o t he e s t i ma t e pg - - Pw ~
10 - 3 kN m - 1 / d s . The gr ai n pr e s s ur e of a humi d soi l at a f r ee sur f ace unde r a t mos phe r i c
pr e s s ur e ( p = Pa) is t he r e f or e
ps = p - pw = Pa - Pw ~ l O- 3k Nm- l / ds (2. 10)
For i nst ance, fi ne s and wi t h ds ,~ 10 - 4 m has a Ps ~ 10 kN m - 2 at capi l l ar y ent r y, whi ch is
vi si bl e f r om t he change of col our .
I n t he soi l i nt e r i or an i nc r e a s e of wa t e r u n d e r p r e s s u r e l eads t o t he a p p e a r a n c e and gr owt h
of gas bubbl es . De p e n d i n g on t he gr ai n size, ne ga t i ve Pw - Pa val ues ( and c or r e s pondi ng
gr ai n s ke l e t on pr e s s ur e s wi t hout t ot a l pr e s s ur e ) can r e a c h be t we e n a bout 1 kPa f or coar s e
s and a nd 1 MPa f or si l t y clay. Ev e n bi gger unde r pr e s s ur e s can act ne a r t he cont act s of
e x t r e me l y fi ne soi l par t i cl es. Eq. 2.7 gi ves t he humi di t y to at whi ch as ma ny wa t e r mol ecul es
e v a p o r a t e and c o n d e n s a t e at t he s a me t i me. Wi t h RT/ v w = 1, 3 105 kPa a nd usi ng t he
n u mb e r s gi ven a bove f or pg - - Pw, humi di t i e s ove r 99 % ar e o b t a i n e d f or gr ai n si zes over
10 - 6 m. Soi l sur f aces e x p o s e d t o t he ai r a r e t he r e f or e s e l d o m s at ur at ed.
The gr ai n st r ess t e ns or Ts of a wat er sat urat ed s i mpl e gr ai n s kel et on, whi ch ma y al so
c ont a i n gas bubbl e s b e t we e n t he grai ns, is r e l a t e d t o t he t ot al st r ess t e ns or T, t he wa t e r
pr e s s ur e pw and t he uni t t e ns or 1 vi a
Ts = T + pwl
Wi t h Ps = - T s a nd
Ps = P - pwl
(2. 11a)
P = - T t hi s can be r e p l a c e d by
(2. 11b)
( or c onve nt i one l l y or' = a - u wi t h t he ef f ect i ve pr e s s ur e o' and t he t ot al pr e s s ur e or). Ps
is t h e r e f o r e a pa r t i a l pr e s s ur e t ensor . Eq. 2.11 hol ds as l ong as t he me c ha ni c a l be ha vi our
of t he gr ai ns is i n d e p e n d e n t of t he pr e s s ur e of t he s ur r oundi ng wa t e r ( t he f r e que nt l y
gi ven e xpl a na t i on, wi t h a wavey i nt er s ect i ng sur f ace pas s i ng t hr ough gr ai n cont act s, is not
neces s ar y) .
Pcsds
(~w
e = O, 5
0 Srg 1 Sr
Fi g. 4. Saturation-dependent capillary grain pressure
For an uns a t ur a t e d s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t on wi t h gas channel s t hr ough t he soi l one can wr i t e
i ns t e a d of Eq. 2. 11b
Ps = P + pcsl (2.12)
wi t h t he capillary grain pressure pcs. As ge ome t r i c a l l y s i mi l ar s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons have
ge ome t r i c a l l y s i mi l ar di s t r i but i ons of por e wa t e r f or t he s a me de gr e e of s at ur at i on, pcs
by Eq. 2.8 has t he o r d e r of ma g n i t u d e ow/ ds. Wh e r e Pcsds/crw d e p e n d s on t he degr ee of
s a t ur a t i on Sr and t he voi d r a t i o e as s hown in Fig. 4. I t t he r e f or e r e a c he s a ma x i mu m at
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 215
Sr "~ 0.5 and vani shes f or Sr = 0 and Sr = Srg. The upper bound Srg f or al most no t hr ough-
goi ng gas channel s, is not sharpl y det er mi nabl e. The as s umed uni f or m di st r i but i on of por e
wat er can at best appear in si mpl e grai n skel et ons aft er a l ong wai t i ng t i me or with hi gher
t emper at ur e. Gas pocket s appear in t he por e space ( Sect i on 2.1.3) af t er r api d wet t i ng or
drying.
The mol e f r act i on mg of di ssol ved gas in t he wat er i ncreases wi t h t he gas pr essur e pg
appr oxi mat el y by Henr y' s law,
mg -= pg/ Kg (2.13)
wi t h a f act or Kg dependi ng on t he ki nd of gas and pr opor t i onal t o T. Eq. 2.13 hol ds al so
f or part i al f r act i ons and pr essur es of a gas mi xt ure, but it has t o be r epl aced by a non- l i near
r el at i on f or hi gh pressures. One can t hen est i mat e how t he gas quant i t y is changed wi t h
t he change of pr essur e in gas bubbl es fixed by t he grai n skel et on if equi l i br i um is achi eved
bet ween t he bubbl es by di ffusi on in t he wat er. Eqs. 2.7 and 2.8 al so hol d t r ue at t he same
time.
Salts are di ssoci at ed i nt o i ons aft er sol ut i on in t he por e wat er. Wi t h t he mol e f r act i on mi
of one speci es of i ons t he os mot i c pressure at an i mper meabl e me mb r a n e is obt ai ned by
van' t Ho f f ' s l aw as
Pos = RTmi (2.14)
For exampl e, Pos ~ 2 MPa hol ds f or a sol ut i on of 3 % by wei ght of c o mmo n salt. As t he
i nt er f ace bet ween wat er and gas is i mper vi ous f or i ons one has i nst ead of Eq. 2.7
pw =
(2.15)
wi t h ions, wher eas Eq. 2.8 r emai ns unchanged. Os mot i c pr essur e and under pr es s ur e due
t o evapor at i on are compens at ed f or at a pl ane i nt er f ace in t he r modyna mi c equi l i bri um.
The det er mi nat i on of t he por e wat er under pr es s ur e wi t h Eq. 2.7 l eads t o an over es t i mat i on
if t he i on concent r at i on is negl ect ed.
The di f f er ence Ami repl aces mi in t he case of di f f er ent i on concent r at i ons on bot h sides
of a me mbr a ne whi ch is i mper vi ous f or ions. As mi is most l y bi gger at solid surfaces, f or
compens at i on of t hei r char ge deficit, t han in f r ee por e wat er, an i nt er gr anul ar os mot i c
pr essur e pp arises anal ogousl y wi t h t he capi l l ary gr ai n pressure, whi ch has t o be added
in Eqs. 2.11 or 2.12. This is t he i nt er gr anul ar f r act i on of t he swel l i ng pressure whi ch can
be det er mi ned exper i ment al l y wi t h a fixed sat ur at ed grai n skel et on by changi ng t he i on
f r act i on in t he mobi l e por e wat er, i. e. wi t h unchanged bonde d i on fract i on. A s econd
osmot i c pr essur e acts inside t he grai ns and can l ead t o t he decay of cl ay part i cl es af t er a
r educt i on of t he i on f r act i on in t he por e wat er. We cannot deal her e wi t h t he difficult and
part i al l y uncl ari fi ed det ai l s of t he i on l ayers of mi nut est particles. ( Apa r t f r om t he os mot i c
swelling, t her e is an elastic one, due t o r e bound of t he grai n skel et on and a hygr oscopi c
one, due t o r educt i on of t he capi l l ary grai n pressure. The swel l i ng due t o expansi on of t he
gas bubbl es has t o be added. )
The stress c ompone nt s of a si mpl e grai n skel et on are r est r i ct ed by r equi r ement s in cer t ai n
cases, dependi ng on t he voi d ratio. The r educt i on of t he voi d r at i o wi t h t he me a n grai n
pr essur e can t hen be r epr es ent ed by a granul ar phas e di agram (Fig. 5) wi t h at least t hr ee
curves [10]. Ps is nor mal i zed by t he so-cal l ed gr anul at e har dness hs. The bi ggest voi d r at i o
216 Ger d Gudehus
O'
0 i -
e c -
e d -
I n ( p s / h s )
F i g . 5, Pressure-dependent special void ratios of a
simple grain skeleton (granular phase diagram)
ei hol ds f or an i s ot r opi c c ompr e s s i on in t he case of l oos es t packi ng. I t can be a p p r o x i ma t e d
by
[ - ( P ' l l ( 2 . 1 6 )
ei = eio exp \ ~ s ,] J
in t he ge ot e c hni c a l l y r e l e va nt pr e s s ur e r ange. Ther ei n, eio is t he ei f or Ps = 0. Be c a us e of
t he i nt e r gr a nul a r os mot i c pr e s s ur e eio f or cl ayey soi l s c a nnot be d e t e r mi n e d f or ps = O,
but onl y by e x t r a p o l a t i o n f r om t he a nt i c i pa t e d pr e s s ur e r ange. The l ower b o u n d ei = 0
f or ps --> (x~ ma ke s s ens e f or el as t opl as t i c grai ns, but due t o gr ai n cr ashi ng t he r e is an
u p p e r b o u n d r oughl y at Ps ---- 10-3hs. I ns t e a d of Eq. 2.16 one can use t he c onve nt i ona l
r e l a t i on
ei = ei r - - Cc l n( ps / Pr ) (2.17)
f or t he pr e s s ur e r a nge whe r e i n t he e - l n ( p s / h s ) cur ve is ne a r l y a s t r ai ght l i ne. ei t hen has
t he val ue eir f or t he a r bi t r a r i l y chos en r e f e r e nc e pr e s s ur e Pr, and Cc is t he s l ope of t he
s t r ai ght l i ne. Eqs. 2.16 and 2.17 hol d, wi t h eo i ns t e a d of ei f or uni axi al c ompr e s s i on, as in
t he o e d o me t e r wi t h eo < ei. The r a t i o of pr i nci pal pr e s s ur e c o mp o n e n t s is t hen a ma t e r i a l
c ons t a nt
ps z / ps l = Ko (2.18)
cal l ed coef f i ci ent of e a r t h pr e s s ur e at rest . The r el at i on, whi ch can be a p p r o x i ma t e d by
Eq. 2.16 or 2.17, hol ds al so f or ot her proport i onal compressi ons and t he st r ess c o mp o n e n t s
have c ons t a nt r at i os as gi ven by Eq. 2.18. The s e c ondi t i ons of st at e hol d a s ympt ot i c a l l y
f or suf f i ci ent l y l ar ge de f or ma t i on. The a s y mp t o t e can be una t t a i na bl e howe ve r f or t oo
l ow an i ni t i al e due t o gr ai n cr ashi ng.
The cur ve ec hol ds f or criticalstates and can be a p p r o x i ma t e d by Eq. 2.16 or 2.17, r epl aci ng
t he s ubs cr i pt i by c. The s e s t at es ar e achi eved by c ons t a nt - vol ume s t r et chi ng wi t h cons t ant
r at e. The y a r e al so c ha r a c t e r i z e d by a f i xed r a t i o of pr i nci pal st r ess c o mp o n e n t s whi ch can
be e xpr e s s e d by
psi / ps2 = (1 + sin %) / ( 1 - sin %) (2.19)
wi t h t he cr i t i cal f r i ct i on angl e % f or cyl i ndr i cal s hor t eni ng. Ot h e r st r ess r at i os de pe ndi ng
on Cpc a r e obt a i ne d f or o t h e r s t r et chi ng r at i os, whe r e a s t he cr i t i cal voi d r at i o ec has vi r t ual l y
al ways t he s ame d e p e n d e n c e on ps. For a cer t ai n Ps, ec is s ma l l e r t han t he a s ympt ot i c voi d
r a t i o f or p r o p o r t i o n a l c ompr e s s i on, but t he u p p e r and l ower bounds of t he pr e s s ur e r ange
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 217
ar e near l y t he same. I f pr essur es and not st r et chi ng r at es ar e pr escr i bed, critical st at es
ar e achi eved asympt ot i cal l y, wi t hout shear l ocal i sat i on, onl y if t he voi d r at i o is above t he
critical val ue r el at ed t o t he gi ven pr essur e so t hat no di l at ancy occur s ( Sect i on 2.1.3).
The l ower cur ve ea in Fig. 5 r epr esent s t he voi d r at i o f or maxi mum densi fi cat i on by
r e a r r a nge me nt under const ant grai n pr essur e ps. This can al so be appr oxi mat ed by
Eq. 2.16 when repl aci ng t he subscri pt i by d. The val ue ea0 comes close t o t he convent i onal
densest packi ng f or coar se- gr ai ned soil, wher eas eco comes close t o t he voi d r at i o of t he
l oosest packi ng. One can repl ace e by t he pr es s ur e- cor r ect ed densi t y i ndex
]d =( e c - - e ) / ( e c - - e d )
(2.20)
wher ei n ec and ed depend on ps. The quant i t i es expl ai ned in Fig. 5 are appr opr i at e f or
coar se- t o fi ne-grai ned soils as l ong as Ps subst ant i al l y exceeds t he i nt er gr anul ar os mot i c
pr essur e ( and t her ef or e not f or col l oi d mud) .
One can defi ne t he rel at i ons gi ven above wi t h t he gr anul ar phase di agr am as gr anul ar
equat i ons of state, but t hey are essent i al l y di f f er ent f r om t he r modyna mi c phases and
equat i ons of state. Wher eas t he r modyna mi c equi l i bri a in cl osed syst ems arise spont a-
neousl y, si mpl e grai n skel et ons can r each t he na me d st at es onl y af t er cer t ai n def or ma-
tions, and wai t i ng t i mes are less i mpor t ant ( Sect i on 3.2.3). A pr essur e- f r ee gr ai n skel et on
can have voi d rat i os bet ween e i o and ed0, dependi ng on t he pr evi ous def or mat i on. For
small pr essur es Eq. 2.16 can be appr oxi mat ed by
ps ~ l h s ( 1 - e_j._i ) l / n (2.21)
J
eio
wher e t he subscri pt i has t o be r epl aced by c or d respect i vel y. This power l aw is t ypi cal
f or a per col at i on t hat occur s due t o t he fl at t eni ng of t he cont act s wi t h i ncreasi ng pressure.
The exponent 1/ n can be empi ri cal l y r el at ed t o t he gr ai n roughness.
Ot he r t han a solid, a pr essur e- f r ee si mpl e gr ai n skel et on is at its exi st ence limit. For a cer-
t ai n Ps, voi d rat i os out si de t he r ange bet ween ei and ed cannot be r eached by r ear r ange-
ment s of si mpl e gr ai n skeletons. Ver y l oose skel et ons wi t h e > e l , whi ch can have a
met ast abl e exi st ence wi t h gas bubbl es and channel s, are densi fi ed by any r e a r r a nge me nt
and t her ef or e t end t owar ds t ot al l i quefact i on. Gr ai n skel et ons wi t h e < ea can arise by
cr acki ng of r ock or by compr es s i on be yond ea and decompr es s i on t her eaf t er and ar e
ext r emel y di l at ant like dr y masonry. They cannot unde r go t he uni f or m changes of st ress
and shape as s umed f or si mpl e grai n skel et ons.
The por e wat er rest rai ns t he st at es t hat are cover ed by t he gr anul ar phas e di agr am. For
full sat ur at i on, and al so wi t h gas bubbl es encl osed bet ween t he grains, one can wor k wi t h
t he grai n pr essur e gi ven by Eq. 2.11b. The r el at i ons ar e mor e compl i cat ed f or s at ur at ed
cl ayey soils in t he r ange of low grai n pr essur es because of t he osmot i c pressure. As a resul t
of t he l ow gr anul at e har dness (hs < 1 MPa) t he grai ns can subst ant i al l y change wi t hi n t he
geot echni cal pr essur e range. For l ow degr ees of sat ur at i on, whi ch enabl e t hr ough- goi ng
gas channel s, one can at best assume si mpl e gr ai n skel et ons f or grai n sizes above about
1 0 - 4 m (Sect i on 2.1.3).
Boundar y condi t i ons may be briefly t ouched here, as t hey have t o be compat i bl e wi t h
mat er i al propert i es. The grai n skel et on pr essur e vani shes at t he t r ansi t i on f r om soil t o
f r ee wat er, and t he wat er pr essur e or t he ent r ance vel oci t y of wat er is pr escr i bed. At a
soil surface exposed t o air t he pr essur e r el at i ons expl ai ned by Eq. 2.10 hol d. The r at e of
218 Ger d Gudehus
e va por a t i on, whi ch is e qua l t o t he f i l t r at i on vel oci t y n~ (Vw - Vs) in t he n o r ma l di r ect i on,
can t hen be e s t i ma t e d. The n o r ma l pr e s s ur e is equal t o t he gas or fl ui d pr e s s ur e out s i de
t he soi l at an i mpe r vi ous me mb r a n e . The s a me hol ds t r ue f or a me mb r a n e s uppor t i ng
t he gr ai n s ke l e t on but not wat er , e. g. a f i l t er - cake, and t he gr ai n s ke l e t on pr e s s ur e is
o b t a i n e d f r om t he wa t e r pr es s ur e. I ns i de t he me mb r a n e t he s e e pa ge f or ce pr ovi de s f or
t he i nc r e a s e in t he gr ai n pr es s ur e. Co mp l e t e expr es s i ons f or pr es s ur es a nd s he a r st r esses
a r e not pos s i bl e f or i nt er f aces b e t we e n soi l and sol i d s t r uct ur al par t s a nd f or ces in t he
l a t t e r can at bes t be r e l a t e d t o t he r e s ul t a nt soi l forces. I f an i nt er f ace be t we e n a s t r uct ur al
pa r t a nd soi l act s as s he a r zone i t s s t at e can be e s t i ma t e d ( Sect i ons 2.1.3 a nd 4.3).
The initial state f or t he cal cul at i on of d e f o r ma t i o n s and s t abi l i t y c a nnot be c ompl e t e l y
d e t e r mi n e d f r om al l t he n a me d c ondi t i ons a nd good me a s u r e me n t resul t s, l et a l one spe-
ci al cases such as at r est pr e s s ur e a nd s t at i cal l y d e t e r mi n e d l i mi t st r ess fields. A pur e l y
s t at i cal c ons t r uc t i on by me a ns of a s s ume d di s t r i but i ons , st r ess r at i os and pr i nc i pa l st r ess
di r ect i ons , is j us t i f i ed in s i mpl e cases but in mo r e di ffi cul t ones is uncl ear a nd t oo cumber -
s ome, as i t coul d s car cel y be c omput e r i s e d. On e is t he r e f or e l ef t wi t h t he c ons t r uc t i on of
i ni t i al s t at es wi t h t he ai d of c ons e r va t i on l aws and cons t i t ut i ve l aws and wi t h si mpl i f i ed
i ni t i al a nd b o u n d a r y c ondi t i ons a s s ume d t o be val i d pr i or t o t he s t ar t t i me. A fi ct i t i ous
i ni t i al s t at e is f r e qe nt l y a s s ume d wi t hout gr avi t y and t he de a d wei ght is t hen i mp o s e d s t ep
by st ep. A y o u n g e r s ect i on of t he me c ha ni c a l hi s t or y can be f ol l owed up wi t h di f f er ent i al
cons t i t ut i ve l aws, whe r e t he er as i on of t r aces of e a r l i e r pr oces s es ma y be pr e s ume d. Thi s
ma k e s no s ens e wi t hout me a s u r e me n t val ues ( at l eas t of t he voi d r at i o and t he de gr e e of
s a t ur a t i on) .
2.1.3 Fabric
The granulometric fine structure can s ubs t ant i al l y de vi a t e f r om a s i mpl e gr ai n s kel et on.
A s andwi ch soi l can be de s c r i be d as a c o mp o s i t e of s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons t o r eal i s t i cal l y
mo d e l me c ha ni c a l p r o p e r t i e s in l ar ge r egi ons. The o r d e r of l ayer s is t opol ogi c a l l y l ost by
i nt ens i ve r oot i ng a nd f abr i cs wi t h l umps and ma c r o p o r e s can ar i se i ns t e a d of s i mpl e gr ai n
s kel et ons .
Shear bands in s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons a r e r e c ogni z e d f r om a hi gher voi d r a t i o t han t he
s ur r oundi ngs i n a zone of a bout 3- 30 gr ai n di a me t e r s t hi ckness. I ns i de t he s he a r bands
t he gr ai n st r ess t e ns or is no l onger s ymme t r i c a nd an a ddi t i ona l coupl e st r ess occurs.
The f l uct uat i ons of gr ai n cont act f or ces a r e s ubs t ant i al l y bi gger t han out s i de t he s hear
band. Ma c r os c opi c a l l y me a s u r a b l e and r e l e va nt s t at e quant i t i es of t he e a r t h b o d y ar e st i l l
onl y pos i t i on, me a n voi d r a t i o a nd n o r ma l a nd s hear st r ess al ong t he s hear ba nd. Speci al
c ons i de r a t i on is r e qui r e d f or s hear zones wi t h a gr a nul ome t r i c fi ne s t r uct ur e as, e. g., f aul t s
wi t h s me a r e d cl ay s eams or b e n t o n i t e fi l ms in sl ur r y t r enches.
The s t at e of s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons can be mo r e pr eci s el y de s c r i be d wi t h t he a i d of fabric
tensors t ha n wi t h onl y t he gr ai n s ke l e t on t e ns or and t he voi d r at i o. On t he one ha nd one
can de s c r i be t he or i e nt a t i on of par t i cl es or cont act s. The pr oba bi l i t y dens i t y f or a di r ect i on
n of pr i nci pal gr ai n axes or c ont a c t nor ma l s can t hen be a p p r o x i ma t e d by
p( n) = nTSn (2.22)
whe r e S is nor ma l i z e d by
f p ( n ) d n =l (2.23)
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 219
as any di r ect i on will cer t ai nl y appear. Al t er nat i vel y one can t ry t o descri be t he di r ect i on-
dependent i rregul ari t y of t he di st ri but i on of cont act nor mal f or ces by statistical measures.
Appr oa c he s f or i nt ernal vari abl es within el ast opl ast i ci t y ( Sect i on 3.2.2) and hypopl as-
ticity ( Sect i on 3.3.3) are as yet heuri st i c i.e. such t ensor s ar e not yet well set t l ed in a
mi cr omechani cal - st at i st i cal sense. The quest i on is t her ef or e ope n on how far f or ce fluctu-
at i ons in all l engt h scales appear and are fractal. The usual separ at i on of f abr i c- dependent
or i nher ent and st r ess- dependent or i nduced ani sot ropy, poi nt s t o t wo di f f er ent fabri c t en-
SOTS.
The por e wat er in uns at ur at ed grai n skel et ons is r ar el y di st r i but ed so r egul ar l y as as s umed
in Fig. 4. Gas pocket s or channel s arise wi t h t he r api d ent r y or depar t ur e of wat er, espe-
cially in t he case of fl uct uat i ng voi d ratios, so t hat t he soil is i nhomoge ne ous in r espect of
t he degr ee of sat urat i on. The spr eadi ng of a sat ur at i on or desi ccat i on f r ont is mechani cal l y
instable, wher eas a non- homoge ne ous por e wat er di st r i but i on can be t her modynami cal l y
met ast abl e [1] and r emai n so f or a l ong time. A spat i al me a n val ue of t he capi l l ary grai n
pr essur e pcs fol l ows wi t h Fig. 4 f r om t he non- uni f or m di st r i but i on of t he degr ee of sat-
ur at i on. Wi t h coar se- gr ai ned soils down t o silt one can get al ong wi t h empi r i cal spat i al
mean val ues Pcs. Soils wi t h ver y fine grai ns and cr ack syst ems can be appr oxi mat ed as
composi t es. Two pr essur es are of t en used in t he mechani cs of uns at ur at ed soils: t he net
pr essur e p - pg and t he suct i on Pa - - Pw. Thi s is empirically, but not physi cal l y justified.
Onl y t he grai n pr essur e is r el evant f or stiffness and st r engt h but it can be as i r r egul ar y
di st r i but ed as t he por e gas.
Soils with l umps andmac r opor e s can be cons i der ed as composi t es of si mpl e gr ai n skel et ons
wi t h capi l l ary act i on. Lumps resul t f r om mechani cal par t i t i on of capi l l ary bonde d soils and
are of t en near l y sat ur at ed. One can consi der a fabri c of l umps t o be a si mpl e grai n skel et on
wi t h a ver y l ow gr anul at e har dness det er mi ned by capi l l ary suct i on. I f t he capi l l ary suct i on
get s lost by dr yi ng or cracki ng, or by access of wat er, a f abr i c of t he l umps becomes
a col l apsi bl e st ruct ure. Fl oodi ng of t he l ump fabri c or gas pr oduct i on can l ead t o gas-
filled macr opor es whi ch ar e l arger t han single grains. Such a soil can be met ast abi l e by
capi l l ary act i on or weak cement at i on, but can be t r ans f or med i nt o a suspensi on by a small
di st ur bance and t hen flow cat ast rophi cal l y.
Pol ydi spersed soi l s can al so be consi der ed as composi t es of si mpl e gr ai n skel et ons. I n
t he case of ver y bi g di f f er ences of grai n sizes one has t o di f f er ent i at e bet ween l arge
grai ns fl oat i ng in a skel et on of finer grai ns or f or mi ng a skel et on t hemsel ves, f or whi ch
t he gr anul ar phase di agr am is useful. Gas-fi l l ed ma c r opor e s have t o be al l owed for: like
fl oat i ng coar se grai ns t hey can be under s t ood as hi ghl y compr essi bl e i ncl usi ons wi t hout
st rengt h.
Cement ed grai n skel et ons have solid condens at e bri dges at t he gr ai n cont act s. Si mpl e grai n
skel et ons of this t ype obt ai n a prest ress compar abl e t o a capi l l ary gr ai n pressure, whi ch
get s l ost i rreversi bl y dur i ng r ear r angement s. Gr ai n fabri cs wi t h l umps or ma c r opor e s can
be c ome st abl e by cement at i on, but t hey ar e brittle. The cement at i on of t en pl ays onl y a
mi nor rol e f or soils, wher eas it is decisive f or r ock and concr et e.
Cracks appear in soils due t o ext ensi on. A single crack, e. g. at a st r uct ur al par t or behi nd
t he s houl der of a slope, appear s as free soil surface in t he descr i pt i on of state, in gener al
wi t h wat er pressure. Cr ack pat t er ns are of a fract al nat ur e: a pr i mar y pat t er n first arises,
wi t h big di st ances in bet ween, t hen a s econdar y one appear s etc. One can assume si mpl e
grai n skel et ons onl y in r egi ons whi ch are not yet cr acked; a compos i t e of t he same t ype
appear s t o be a mor e sui t abl e model becaus e of t he var i abl e cr ack wi dt h.
220 Gerd Gudehus
2. 2 Changes o f state
2.2.1 Changes of simple grain skeletons
The vel oci t y of fictitious ma r ke r grai ns is descr i bed by Vs = dxs/dt. Fr om t he gr adi ent of
t he vel oci t y t he st r et chi ng r at e [15] is gi ven by
D = (Vvs + vs V) / 2 (2.24)
and t he r at e of r ot at i on
W = (Vvs - vs V) / 2 (2.25)
are deri ved. (For t he pr opagat i on of t r ansver sal elastic si nusoi dal waves, t he shear st rai n
y = Vs/Cs is obt ai ned f r om Vs and t he pr opagat i on vel oci t y Cs and f r om it t he change of
shear stress A~ = Gy ( Sect i on 3.1.1). This f or mul a suffices f or est i mat es even in t he case
of slightly anel ast i c behavi our . ) The di spl acement or change of position is
Us = f vsdt (2.26)
(s)
wher e t he symbol (s) denot es a mat er i al poi nt whi ch is unchanged dur i ng i nt egrat i on.
Geot echni cal l y r el evant di spl acement pat hs are of t en mar kedl y di f f er ent f r om st rai ght
lines, and t hei r gr adi ent s cannot al ways be det er mi ned. I f t he di spl acement s are small
t hey can be descr i bed wi t h t he t ensor
E = (VUs + us V) / 2 (2.27)
and wi t h
D = dE/ dt (2.28)
I n r el at i on f or t he gr ai n pr essur e t ens or t he shor t eni ng t ensor and its r at e (S = - E ,
= - D) ar e used. Tensor s f or l arge def or mat i ons are at most r equi r ed f or t he eval uat i on
of tests wi t hout r ot at i on of pri nci pal axes; t hen Eq. 2.28 hol ds f or t he l ogar i t hmi c st ret chi ng
t ensor. The coher ence of a grai n skel et on can get lost at a gap cl ose t o a st r uct ur e or in t he
soil i nt eri or. De f or ma t i on t ensor s be c ome insufficient if di f f er ent gr anul omet r i c fract i ons
are mi xed or segr egat ed.
The t empor al change of grai n stress is cal l ed grain stress rate Ts = dTs/dt. For r ot at i on
r at es whi ch are l arge c ompa r e d t o t he st r et chi ng r at e and in t he vicinity of limit st at es
wi t h pri nci pal axis r ot at i ons, one has t o r epl ace Ts by an obj ect i ve, i. e. a f r ame- i ndi f f er ent
co- r ot at ed stress rate, e. g. t he one by Jaumann,
1"s = 1"s + WT - TW (2.29)
Al t er nat i vel y one can use t he grai n pr essur e r at e Ps = - i s .
A si mpl e grai n skel et on r emai ns homoge ne ous in a so-cal l ed element test when its state is
al t er ed by changes of st resses or di spl acement s at t he boundar y. Strictly speaki ng this is
i mpossi bl e even wi t h initial homogenei t y: pr essur e can onl y be i mposed via membr anes,
di spl acement via plates, so sampl es be c ome i nhomoge ne ous at t he bounda r y and al ong
t he edges. For an i deal el ement t est gr ai n di spl acement s and cont act forces woul d have
t he same fl uct uat i ons at t he bounda r y as in t he i nt eri or. This can at best be achi eved
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 221
by gr anul ar dynami c calculations, but t hese can onl y give qual i t at i ve resul t s becaus e of
i nevi t abl e simplifications. Eve n t hen t he homoge ne i t y is not al ways pr eser ved, as fl uct ua-
t i ons can s pont aneous l y gr ow locally. Wi t h such localisations, l eadi ng t o a new fabric, t he
grai n skel et on cannot r emai n si mpl e (i. e. me a n val ues do not suffice), but it can be c ome
si mpl e agai n under sui t abl e bounda r y condi t i ons (i. e. i nhomogenei t i es are ' i r oned out ' ) .
Sect i ons of t he grai n skel et on behavi our can be r epr es ent ed by convent i onal di agr ams
(Fig. 6). I n t he case of axi - symmet r i c def or mat i on, i. e. s2 = s3 wi t hout pri nci pal axis
r ot at i on, and wi t h ps2 = ps3 f or axi - symmet r i c gr ai n skel et ons, ps2 is of t en kept cons t ant
( convent i onal dr ai ned triaxial test). The axial pr essur e Ps 1 and t he vol ume change A V / V o
can t hen be pl ot t ed agai nst t he axial shor t eni ng sl (a and b), or t he pr essur e di f f er ence Ps 1 -
Ps2, t he pr essur e rat i o Ps l / Ps 2 and t he voi d r at i o e. For cons t ant - vol ume axi - symmet r i c
def or mat i on ( undr ai ned triaxial test wi t h sat ur at ed sampl e) anot her evol ut i on of ps i is
obt ai ned wi t h t he same initial st at e of t he grai n skel et on and i nst ead of t he now cons t ant
e, t he por e pr essur e pw is pl ot t ed (c and d). For a uni axi al def or mat i on, as pr ovi ded by
an oedomet er , t he axial pr essur e Psi is pl ot t ed agai nst t he axial shor t eni ng sl , or e versus
l n ( p s l / p , . ) wi t h a r ef er ence pr essur e Pr (e and f). For sheari ng, wi t h const ant vert i cal
pr essur e or const ant voi d ratio, t he shear st ress and t he vol ume change, or t he por e
pr essur e is pl ot t ed agai nst t he shear i ng angl e 7- The di agr ams ar e si mi l ar t o t he ones f or
axial symmet ry. The i nfl uence of t he def or mat i on r at e or t he wai t i ng t i me under cons t ant
pr essur e is t hus not al l owed for.
Defi ni t i ons and mat er i al pr oper t i es ar e of t en der i ved f r om such di agrams, f ol l owi ng con-
cept s used f or solids, whi ch can l ead t o mi sunder st andi ngs, dp~ 1/ds1 o r Aps 1 / A S 1 is defi ned
as t he def or mat i on modul us Ev f or triaxial and as t he stiffness modul us Es f or o e d o me t e r
tests. Bot h are so vari abl e t hat t hey are of use onl y in speci al cases ( Sect i on 3.1.2). The
not i ons l oadi ng, un- and r el oadi ng are l i nked wi t h speci al pr ocesses and can onl y be gen-
eral i zed t o ar bi t r ar y changes of st at e wi t h cer t ai n const i t ut i ve r el at i ons ( Sect i on 3.2.1).
Psi Psi,
Psl
Ps2
Psl
s l 'sl
C
e
$1
b d
p D
s I In (Ps/Pr)
f
Fig. 6. Working lines for monotonous cylindrical deformation with constant lateral pressure (a and b),
constant volume (c and d) and constant radius (e and f)
222 Ger d Gudehus
The s o- cal l ed p r e l o a d pr es s ur e, i. e. t he bi gges t pr e s s ur e ever i mpos e d, c a nnot obj ect i vel y
be ge ne r a l i z e d and is not a s t at e quant i t y. The l a t e r a l pr es s ur es ps2 in t he o e d o me t e r t est
a nd ps2 and ps3 in t he s he a r t est ar e di f f i cul t t o me a s u r e and ar e usual l y not cons i der ed.
St r e ngt h quant i t i es ar e n o r ma l l y de r i ve d f r om st r ess c o mp o n e n t s f or l i mi t s t at es def i ned
by dpsl / ds 1 = 0 or dud, / = 0. The s o- cal l ed dr a i ne d and u n d r a i n e d s he a r s t r engt h
pa r a me t e r s , cp' and c' or q~, and c , , ar e j us t i f i ed f or c onve nt i ona l s t abi l i t y as s es s ment , but
t hey d e p e n d on ps, e a nd D and ar e t h e r e f o r e not ma t e r i a l const ant s.
The vol ume change u n d e r cyl i ndr i cal s hor t e ni ng wi t h c ons t a nt l a t e r a l pr e s s ur e is gi ven by
t he measure of dilatancy 6 = - d( Sl + 2s2)/dsl. The angl e of sl i di ng up v = arctan(d~/d,/)
is d e t e r mi n e d c or r e s pondi ngl y by s i mpl e s hear i ng wi t h c ons t a nt ver t i cal pr es s ur e. One
can al so c ons i de r contractancy f or ne ga t i ve 6 or v [5]. For a dr a i ne d t r i axi al or s hear
t est wi t h c ons t a nt l a t e r a l or ver t i cal pr es s ur e, 6 or v is l ar gel y negat i ve in t he begi nni ng
( dens i f i cat i on) , t he n pos i t i ve ( l oos eni ng) up t o a ma x i mu m cl ose t o t he l i mi t st at e. 6 = 0
or v = 0 hol ds f or cr i t i cal l i mi t s t at es and of t en a cr i t i cal f r i ct i on angl e q~e, i n d e p e n d e n t of
ps, is obs e r ve d ( Se c t i on 2.1.2). A non- di l a t i ng gr ai n s ke l e t on can r e ma i n h o mo g e n e o u s
up t o t he cr i t i cal st at e, ot her wi s e ec ar i ses onl y in s he a r bands.
The gr ai n s ke l e t on b e h a v i o u r is mo r e c ompl e t e l y r e p r e s e n t e d by associated paths of st r ess
and de f or ma t i on, whi ch ar e pos s i bl e f or a pl a ne of axi al s ymme t r y (Fig. 7). The pat hs ar e
t h r e e - d i me n s i o n a l f or bi axi al or c uboi da l d e f o r ma t i o n (S 2 = 0 or S 1 ~ S 2 S 3 i n gener al )
a nd t hus r e qui r e a pr oj e c t i on t o t wo non- pa r a l l e l pl anes. Thi s is not shown he r e al t hough
t est r esul t s wi t h t hi s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n have s ubs t ant i al l y c ont r i but e d t o t he e vol ut i on of
$ I '
Sl ~
2\
2 0
s2
P
2
I I
Psi
/ I " A
Ps2
P s i '
2"
I
)B
1 . .
. . - - ' " 2
psl
1
o
Ps2 Ps2
a b c
Fig. 7. Associated stress (I) and deformation paths (II) for axial symmetry and (a) proportional
compression, (b) volume-preserving deformation, (c) constant mean pressure
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 223
const i t ut i ve laws. Four - di mensi onal spaces woul d be r equi r ed f or shear i ng because of t he
addi t i onal r ot at i on of pri nci pal axes and a t wof ol d pr oj ect i on f or r epr es ent at i on in pl anes,
but t he l i mi t ed and di sput abl e t est resul t s do not j ust i fy this a mount of wor k.
Pr opor t i onal compr essi ons are defi ned by st rai ght def or mat i on pat hs wi t h densi fi cat on
(Fig. 7a). I nde pe nde nt l y of t he initial stress, t he pr essur e pat h t hen t ends t o a st rai ght line
t he sl ope of whi ch is det er mi ned by s l / s 2 . T h e t r ansi t i on t o t he as ympt ot e is s hor t er if
t he initial pr essur es are cl oser t o it. As t he s ubs equent behavi our is t hen det er mi ned onl y
by stress and densi t y one can speak of a s w e p t o u t m e m o r y [6] as i nt er nal vari abl es ar e
det er mi ned t hen by t he pressures and t he voi d ratio. For sufficiently st r ong densi fi cat i on,
a voi d rat i o i ndependent of t he initial st at e is achi eved, as r epr es ent ed in t he gr anul ar
phas e di agr am. This is not r eached f or a t oo l ow voi d ratio, however , as t he grai ns are
des t r oyed due t o hi gh pressure.
For def or mat i on wi t h const ant vol ume ( DI + 2D2 = 0), t he stress pat h t ends t o a critical
st at e wi t h a cons t ant st ress rat i o
( p s i - p s 2 ) 2 / ( p s l +p s 2 ) 2 = s i n 2 ~c (2.30)
and r emai ns t her e as l ong as t he grai ns are not da ma ge d (Fig. 7b). The me a n pr essur e
p s t ends t o t he critical val ue r el at ed t o t he voi d ratio, as gi ven f r om t he begi nni ng and is
appr oxi mat ed by Eq. 2.16 or 2.17 (usi ng subscri pt c i nst ead of i). For e > eco t he grai n
skel et on decays and can t hen be consi der ed collapsible.
The voi d rat i o does not r emai n const ant f or cons t ant ps. I f t he voi d r at i o is initially smal l er
t han e c ( P s ) t he pr essur e r at i o r eaches a ma xi mum whi ch is descr i bed by t he peak fri ct i on
angl e
q~p = max arc sin [(Psi - P s 2 ) / ( P s l + Ps2)]
(2.31)
Thi s depends st r ongl y on t he pr evi ous pat h and is t her ef or e not a soil const ant . Shear
l ocal i sat i on occurs in t he vicinity of such limit states.
I ns t ead of usi ng paths, t he di fferent i al st r ess- def or mat i on behavi our can be r epr es ent ed
by r e s p o n s e p o l a r s (Fig. 8). For uni t st r et chi ng r at es (k~ + 2k 2 = 1) wi t h di f f er ent di r ect i ons
~/k2, t he stress r at es (p~ l and/~s2) pl ot t ed f r om t he stress poi nt ar e ellipse-like cur ves [7].
The mor e t hey devi at e f r om ellipses wi t h t he stress poi nt as cent re, t he less elastic is t he
behavi our . The di amet er , whi ch can be unde r s t ood as a meas ur e of di fferent i al stiffness,
i ncreases subl i near l y wi t h ps f r om zero, whi ch can be descr i bed by t he power law
[~s = 2 ( e ) h s ( P s / h s ) l - n (2.32)
wher e hs and n are t he same quant i t i es as in Eqs. 2.16 and 2.21, and t he f act or 2 depends
on t he voi d rat i o e. St at i cal limit st at es ar e char act er i zed by havi ng a r es pons e pol ar at t he
stress poi nt f or a cer t ai n di r ect i on of shor t eni ng. Cri t i cal st at es lie on t he t wo st r ai ght lines
descr i bed by Eq. 2.30, wher eas ot her st at i cal limit st at es can at best be appr oxi mat ed by
st r ai ght line sect i ons dependi ng on e. The r epr es ent at i on is onl y sufficient if t he st at e at a
stress poi nt , whi ch is r eached by t he pr evi ous history, is t he same f or all rates. For cycles this
is not achi eved by t he voi d rat i o in addi t i on t o t he grai n pressure, whi ch is r epr es ent ed
anyway. Res pons e pol ar s are good f or j udgi ng and compar i ng di fferent i al const i t ut i ve
laws. They can pri nci pal l y be ext ended t o mor e t han t wo di f f er ent c ompone nt s and can
t hen be r epr es ent ed by pr oj ect i ons ont o pl anes.
224 Gerd Gudehus
P s l
I /
Ps2
2
a b
Fig. 8. Response polars (a) of a simple grain skeleton for axi-symmetric unit shortening rates (b)
PS1
1,3,...
I
1,3,...
0,2,...
0, 2 .... 1
b
PS2
/
e e
j
$2 I n(ps/ hs)
b c
Fig. 9. Shortening paths (b) and changes of void ratio (c) for stress cycles (a) with small (I) and large
amplitudes (II)
For alternating loadings a r epr es ent at i on wi t h associ at ed zi g-zag pat hs is mor e adequat e
t han wi t h convent i onal di agr ams or r es pons e polars, but even f or axial s ymmet r y it
is i ncompl et e. I t is however useful t o di f f er ent i at e bet ween l arge and small def or ma-
t i on ampl i t udes. These be c ome l ar ger if grai n stress cycles are i mposed wi t h a r epeat ed
appr oach t owar ds limit st at es (Fig. 9a). The def or mat i on pat hs (b) do not t hen be c ome
cyclic. The st epwi se i ncrease (accumulation) is bi gger f or l arger ampl i t udes. The voi d r at i o
(c) t ends t o a mi ni mum ed, dependi ng on Ps f or small ampl i t udes and t o a maxi mum ec f or
ver y l arge ampl i t udes. As l ong as gr anul omet r i c changes are negligible, t he changes of voi d
r at i o and fabri c ar e cyclic in t he asympt ot e, and are smal l er with decr easi ng ampl i t ude,
and t he accumul at i on becomes t he same in each step.
I f def or mat i on cycl es are i mpos ed t her e is a st epwi se change of grai n stresses (also a ki nd
of accumul at i on) and asympt ot i cal grai n stress cycles can arise if gr anul omet r i c changes
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 225
P s i
I I 0
S
0 S~
P
Ps 2
Se
0, 2, . . .
I I
e , / ~
I n ( p s / h s )
c
Fig. 10. Stress paths (a) and grain pressure changes (c) for shortening cycles (b) with small (I) and
large amplitudes (II)
ar e negl i gi bl e (Fig. 10). The gr ai n pr e s s ur e vani s hes i f t he voi d r a t i o exceeds eao f or
smal l a mpl i t ude s and eco f or ver y bi g ones (cf. Fig. 5). I n t he case of wa t e r s a t ur a t i on
and wi t hout f i l t r at i on, t hi s de c a y of t he gr ai n s ke l e t on is d e n o t e d as l i quef act i on but a
s us pens i on c a pa bl e t o fl ow can onl y ar i se f or e > eco. Ot he r wi s e t he me a n gr ai n pr e s s ur e
ps, a s s oc i a t e d wi t h e = ed, is r e a c he d f or smal l a mpl i t ude s a nd t he one f or e = ec wi t h bi g
ampl i t udes .
Cumul a t i ve changes of s t at e b e c o me negl i gi bl e f or e x t r e me l y s mal l a mpl i t ude s a nd t he
gr ai n s ke l e t on be ha vi our is t hen - a nd onl y t he n - el ast i c. Gr a i n s b e c o me r o u n d e r and
s mal l er by a br a s i on and f r a gme nt a t i on, ea a nd ec ar e r e d u c e d so t hat a s ympt ot i c cycl es
unde r a l t e r na t i ng l oadi ng ar e r e a c he d onl y af t er a bi gger n u mb e r of cycl es or never .
Changes of f abr i c ar e not obs e r va bl e f r om out s i de a nd t hei r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n is mo r e di f -
ficult. The pr oc e s s e s r e p r e s e n t e d by Figs. 9 a nd 10 a r e i de a l i z e d s peci al cases, whi ch ar e
of use f or t he d e v e l o p me n t and s el ect i on of cons t i t ut i ve laws. Re a l a l t e r na t i ng pr oces s es
ar e mor e c ompl i c a t e d.
St at e changes of t he p o r e f l ui d a r e de s c r i be d by t he por e pr e s s ur e r at e/ ~w i n t he case
of ful l s at ur at i on. The r at e of fl ow vel oci t y a nd c onc e nt r a t i on of gas and i ons is r a r e l y
a d d e d expl i ci t l y. Changes t o t he vol ume f r a c t i on of gas bubbl e s a mong t he gr ai ns a nd
t hei r pr e s s ur e - and t hus t he c ompr e s s i bi l i t y of t he p o r e fl ui d - can be c a l c ul a t e d by
Eq. 2.6, whe r e t he change of t he di s s ol ved gas f r act i on has t o be a l l owe d f or i f suf f i ci ent
t i me is gi ven f or di f f usi on. The b r e a k - t h r o u g h of gas channel s ( capi l l ar y e nt r y) can be
e s t i ma t e d wi t h Eq. 2.10, a nd t he cl os ur e of gas c ha nne l s can be r e c ogni s e d by me a ns of
t he l i mi t d e g r e e of s a t ur a t i on Srg s hown in Fi g. 4. Such e s t i ma t e s r e ma i n coar s e as s pat i al l y
i r r egul ar gas channel s and poc ke t s ar i se.
2. 2. 2 Th e r ma l and me c h a n i c a l a c t i v a t i o n
Sp o n t a n e o u s changes of s t at e can ar i se f r om t he r mal act i vat i on wi t hout e xt e r na l c ha nge s
[24]. Pos i t i on changes of n e i g h b o u r e d mol e c ul e s ( Sect i on 2. 3. 1) have a me a n r a t e p e r uni t
of t i me gi ven by
~r - ~
v = 2 - - exp si nh (2. 33)
h
226 Gerd Gudehus
wi t h t he absol ut e t emper at ur e T, t he Bol t z ma nn const ant k, t he Pl anck cons t ant h, t he
act i vat i on ener gy E a and t he ener gy Em enhanci ng a change of posi t i on. The ki net i c
ener gy per part i cl e fl uct uat es maxi mal l y and chaot i cal l y ar ound t he mean val ue 1.5 k T, as
descr i bed by t he exponent i al Bol t zmann di st ri but i on. (If Ea and Em are r ef er r ed t o one
mol - wi t h i k T per mol ecul e = 25 kJ/ mol - t hey have t o be di vi ded by RT in Eq. 2.33).
The evapor at i on of wat er r equi r es Ea ~ 9k T per mol ecul e ( cohesi on energy, [12]) and
r eaches not i ceabl e r at es onl y at hi gh t emper at ur e or big tensile stress. For shear flow
Ea ,~ k T holds, and Em is of t en even smal l er so t hat Eq. 2.33 can be l i neari zed with
r espect t o Em / k T. Ne wt on' s l i near flow law can t hus be justified and t he l i near per meabi l i t y
r el at i on by Dar cy (Sect i on 4.2). The por e wat er in di ffuse i nt erfaces has hi gher act i vat i on
ener gi es caused by caught count er - i ons and t her ef or e a l ower mobi l i t y t han f r ee water.
Typical solid soil part i cl es have cohes i on ener gi es f r om about 30 k T ( mont mor i l l oni t e)
up t o about 200 k T (quart z). Shear di sl ocat i ons in per f ect cryst al s can r each appr eci abl e
r at es onl y if Em has at least t he same or der of magni t ude. For shear mel t i ng, i. e. loss of
mol ecul ar cont act s by sliding, Eq. 2.33 l eads t o t he shear r at e
I ('~ -- c)a3 1 (2.34)
D ~ Do exp k T
wi t h t he shear stress ~, t he mol ecul ar cohes i on c and t he mol ecul e di st ance a. The shear
r at e f or r = c is Do = 2 k T / h . ca 3 whi ch cor r es ponds t o t he devi at or i c def or mat i on ener gy
dur i ng pl ast i fi cat i on associ at ed wi t h one mol ecul e (Sect i on 3.2.1).
Soil grai ns have di sl ocat i ons and ei genst resses, so t hat t he spat i al me a n of Em is al r eady
subst ant i al wi t hout ext er nal act i on. One can consi der Eq. 2.34 as a vi scopl ast i c const i t ut i ve
r el at i on but t hen has t o r epl ace c and Do by empi ri cal quantities, whi ch are difficult t o be
est i mat ed f r om mol ecul ar dynami cs. Eq. 2.34 is near l y valid f or i nsul ar solid bri dges at
grai n cont act s wher e t he r at e of posi t i on change f or x = c is
Do ~ cd 3 V O (2.35)
wi t h t he island size d, t he shear modul us G and t he densi t y p. Eqs. 2.34 and 2.35 hol d even
f or vari abl e cont act islands as onl y t he islands near t he act i vi on t hr eshol d ar e r el evant
[24].
Changes of st at e of si mpl e grai n skel et ons due t o t her mal act i vat i on t her ef or e cannot be
sufficiently al l owed f or in general , as r ear r angement s and grai n pr essur e changes modi f y
t he cont act propert i es. Mo n o t o n o u s pr ocesses wi t h pract i cal l y const ant st r et chi ng r at e are
an except i on. The mean grai n pr essur e ps t hen i ncreases with t he a mount of st ret chi ng
r at e D near l y vi a
Ps ~ Psr [l + Iv l n( D/ Dr ) ] ~ P s r ( D/ Dr ) 1~ (2.36)
wher e Psr is t he a mount of Ps at t he r ef er ence st ret chi ng r at e D = Dr. Psr depends on
t he voi d r at i o e f r om Eqs. 2.16 or 2.17 wi t h t he subscri pt f or t he axial st r et chi ng di rect i on.
The numbe r of act i vat ed cont act mol ecul es per uni t vol ume is pr opor t i onal t o Psr [16, 19].
The vi scosi t y i ndex Iv is obt ai ned f r om tests wi t h wi del y var i ed st r et chi ng r at es bet ween
ca 0.01 f or quar t z t o 0.07 f or mont mor i l l oni t e. One can est i mat e t he cont act i sl and size d
f r om Eqs. 2.34 t o 2.36 wi t h t he aid of t he mol ecul ar cohesi on c and with Iv.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 227
Thermal and mechanical activation usually act together in grain skeletons. A kind of creep
relaxation can arise due to irregular vibrations and can evolve similar to the thermally
activated one. Thermal activation leads to rearrangements and acoustic emissions, causing
further movements in a chain reaction.
Granulometric changes are mostly thermally and mechanically activated. This is not
fully achieved with contact mechanics, starting from fracture mechanics, as spherical
grains are then assumed. Approximations with Eq. 2.34 do not lead very far as in each
case a wide spectrum of particles, activation energies and modes of motion is involved.
The mechanical part of activation tends to be bigger for hard-grained and the thermal
one for soft-grained soils, but the quantification still remains heuristic-empirical (Sec-
tion 4.1).
2. 3 Spe c i a l s e q u e n c e s o f s t a t e a n d s t abi l i t y
2. 3. 1 From mo l e c ul e s t o soi l e l e me nt s
To visualize thermal activation and some stability properties of molecular systems, we can
consider a frictionless magnet suspended above a row of repelling magnets adhering to
the base (Fig. 11). The horizontal force at the pendulum is obtained from the gradient
of the potential distribution. There are two potential minima near the row of magnets
where the position of the swinging magnet is stable. The position is labile at the saddle
point in between, elevated by the amount Ea. The pendulum moves chaotically after
disturbances of the base or of the suspension points. The bigger the disturbances are,
the more frequently the position changes from left to right. There is a gravity-induced
energy difference Em between the two energy depressions because of eccentricity of the
suspension point. The position in the higher depression is metastable compared to the
lower one. The kinetic energy is Boltzmann-distributed in the case of maximally chaotic
motion and the changes of position are quasi-thermally activated (Eq. 2.33).
The equilibrium position is stabilized (i. e. the rate of position change is reduced) by
increase in Ea and/or decrease in Era, and destabilized in the opposite case. One can speak
of active stabilization if the magnet gate gets narrower or the base slope gets smaller, the
opposite is active destabilization. Ea and Em c a n be changed passively by repeated distur-
bances, which gradually change the position of the base magnets and the inclination. In
our model system, however, the gate can only get wider spontaneously and the inclination
smaller.
This system with two degrees of freedom already enables chaotic motions but is unre-
alistically restrained by the pendulum rod. Systems with more degrees of freedoms and
particles cannot be imagined mechanistically and can only be represented graphically in
a restricted sense by projections. One can imagine a grid pattern of base particles rep-
resenting a mono-molecular film with adsorbates above, moving in a field of attractive
and repulsive forces [24]. The base pattern can be irregular due to dislocations and can
change with time. The energy distribution of an adsorbate changes with its distance from
the base and with other sufficiently close adsorbates. The position of a single adsorbate
can be stabilized or destabilized against thermal disturbances, relative to a neighbouring
position, by changes of the base grid or of attraction. The path of an adsorbate is erratic
and leads spontaneously - in the mean - to lower energy depressions. Energy losses are
taken up from the base as increased vibration (heating) and radiated.
228 Gerd Gudehus
I :
I '
I i
,J_,
m
x
x

b
+
+
O


d
Fig. 11. Magnet pendulum over row of magnets (a and b) with energy distribution
(c and d, darker means deeper)
A st ochast i cal l y homoge ne ous col l ect i on of part i cl es is obt ai ned by unl i mi t ed cont i nuat i on
of t he pat t er n and its adsorbat es. The me a n part i cl e di st ance cor r es ponds t o density, and
t he me a n repul si ve f or ce t o pressure. The l at t er is al so det er mi ned by t he di st ance f r om t he
base. De pe ndi ng on t emper at ur e, i. e. me a n chaot i c ki net i c energy, t he t wo- di mensi onal
gaseous, fluid or solid phase is t her modynami cal l y st abl e or not . For const ant pressure,
st abi l i t y is i ndi cat ed by an i ncr ease of t he free ener gy (for const ant densi t y free ent hal py)
in t he case of a phase t ransi t i on, f or instability t he opposi t e hol ds [1]. For numer i cal
si mul at i on a sect i on is consi der ed at t he ri m of whi ch part i cl es ent er and leave. Onl y
wi t h a careful sel ect i on of i nt er act i on pot ent i al s and t he i nevi t abl y fictitious boundar y
condi t i ons can realistic equat i ons of st at e and st at ement s on stability based on t hem be
obt ai ned.
Wi t h t ransi t i on zones phase limits can also be model l ed, e. g. bet ween a liquid and a
gaseous regi on. Thus surface ener gi es and capi l l ary pr essur es dependi ng on t he cur vat ur e
of t he i nt er f ace are obt ai ned (cf. Eq. 2.8). Transi t i on and surface energi es vani sh at critical
poi nt s so t hat phas e t ransi t i ons occur spont aneousl y, and t he t ransi t i on limit get s fuzzy.
The critical p h e n o me n a occur i ng t hen i mpl y t he s pont aneous f or mat i on of fract al capi l l ary
st r uct ur es and t he appr oxi mat i on of equat i ons of state in t he vicinity of t he critical poi nt s
by power laws wi t h uni versal exponent s [3].
I n gr ai n skel et ons fixed by filter plates, por e wat er and air i ncl udi ng di ssol ved fract i ons
and vapor , can have a var i et y of met ast abl e equi l i br i um st at es f or gi ven pr essur es and
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 229
mass f r act i ons. Thos e wi t h t he l owes t t ot al e ne r gy ar e t he mos t s t abl e ones a nd c o r r e s p o n d
t o t he mos t uni f or m di s t r i but i on in phas e space. For s ome ne i ghbour i ng me t a s t a b l e st at es
t he t r a ns i t i on ener gy vani s hes and cr i t i cal p h e n o me n a a ppe a r . Ot h e r me t a s t a b l e s t at es
wi t h non- uni f or m di s t r i but i on can exi st f or a l ong t i me be c a us e of hi gh e ne r gy bar r i er s .
Ex p e r i me n t s and mol e c ul a r dyna mi c cal cul at i ons can yet onl y gi ve an i nt ui t i ve i mpr e s s i on
of t hi s di ver si t y, but not a quant i f i cat i on. On e t he r e f or e has t o use s pat i al a ve r a ge s and
can at bes t cr udel y e s t i ma t e s ys t emat i c i nhomoge ne i t i e s .
Gr a n u l a r dyna mi c s has not ver y much in c o mmo n wi t h mo l e c u l a r dynami cs. I r r e gul a r
gr ai ns a r e c ha nge d by each e nc ount e r so t hat t hey ar e not p e r ma n e n t , a nd t he i r i nt er -
act i ons a r e not ener gy- cons er vi ng. One is l ef t wi t h heur i s t i c a p p r o a c h e s f or mode l l i ng
gr ai n changes and i nt er act i ons . Conc e pt s f or t he dynami cs of c ons e r va t i ve s ys t ems up t o
t h e r mo d y n a mi c s cannot be t r a ns f e r r e d t o gr ai n skel et ons. Thi s hol ds al so t r ue f or not i ons
of st abi l i t y, whi ch at bes t can have a s i mi l ar me a ni ng in a heur i s t i c sense.
A s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t on whi ch is h o mo g e n e o u s in a st at i st i cal sense is cal l ed a soil el ement
and ma y cont ai n st at i st i cal l y h o mo g e n e o u s l y di s t r i but e d p o r e fluid. A gr oup of gr ai ns is
p o s t u l a t e d wi t h changes of st at e, whi ch ar e suf f i ci ent l y de s c r i be d by e vol ut i on e qua t i ons
f or me a n val ues - cal l ed cons t i t ut i ve laws. Wi t hi n t he f r a me wo r k of t hi s s i mpl i f i cat i on
s ome of t he s t abi l i t y not i ons i nt r oduc e d a bove can be heur i s t i cal l y t r a ns f e r r e d. The not i ons
t e mpe r a t ur e , e nt r opy a nd t ot al e ne r gy ar e of l i t t l e use, but de ns i t y a nd pr e s s ur e r e ma i n
usef ul quant i t i es.
The st at e of an e l e me n t can be practically stable i f i t s changes of s t at e due t o t he r ma l
and s ubs e que nt me c ha ni c a l act i vat i on is negl i gi bl e wi t hi n r e l e va nt per i ods . Thi s not i on is
howe ve r subj ect i ve, as t he negl ect i on r est s o n a r bi t r a r y t ol e r a nc e cr i t er i a. A soi l e l e me n t
unde r goe s a stabilization in t hi s sense i f t he dens i t y i ncr eas es f or a gi ven gr ai n pr e s s ur e
ps, if t he r e l a t i ve me a n s he a r st r ess "tm/Ps is r e d u c e d or i f t he me a n gr ai n pr e s s ur e Ps
i ncr eas es f or a gi ven me a n s hear st r ess ~m. St abi l i zat i on is al so o b t a i n e d by e qua l i z a t i on
of i n h o mo g e n e i t e s ( f l uct uat i ons) of gr ai n pos i t i ons and forces. The i nt e r na l var i abl es
whi ch ar e t hen r e qui r e d ar e heur i st i c. The di s t r i but i on of p o r e wa t e r in u n s a t u r a t e d gr ai n
s ke l e t ons - whi ch c a nnot suf f i ci ent l y be de s c r i be d by me a n val ues - is an e x a mp l e of such
i nhomogenei t i es .
The s t abi l i zat i on ma y be cal l ed passi ve, i f i t is s pont a ne ous due t o t he r ma l a nd s ubs e que nt
me c ha ni c a l act i vat i ons. I t is r e c ogni z a bl e f r om a de c r e a s i ng r at e of changes of st at e. I t
is act i ve, however , i f it occur s due t o changes of me c ha ni c a l and hydr a ul i c b o u n d a r y
condi t ons.
The s t at e of a soi l e l e me n t is i ndi f f erent i f i t doe s not change unde r a p e r ma n e n t s t r et chi ng
r at e. I t is cal l ed cr i t i cal i n soi l mechani cs ( t her e ar e ot he r cr i t i cal s t at es in a phys i cal
sense, Bruce and Wallace [3]). Gr a n u l o me t r y , voi d r a t i o a nd gr ai n pr e s s ur e t e ns or r e ma i n
unc ha nge d, Eq. 2.16 or 2.17 and 2.36 ( wi t h s ubs cr i pt c i ns t e a d of i ) a r e a p p r o x i ma t e l y
val i d f or t he gr ai n pr es s ur e. One can al so c ons i de r an i ndi f f er ent s e que nc e of s t at es i f t he
s a me s t at e of t he soi l e l e me n t is a c hi e ve d r e p e a t e d l y unde r pe r i odi c a l me c ha ni c a l act i on
(Figs. 9 and 10).
A soi l e l e me n t ma y be cal l ed collapsible i f i t s s t r et chi ng r a t e unde r f i ct i t i ousl y p e r ma n e n t
st r esses i ncr eas es wi t h t i me due t o t h e r ma l act i vat i on onl y so t hat ki net i c e ne r gy ari ses.
Peak states in soi l mechani cs c onve nt i on occur i f a c ol l a ps e is p r e v e n t e d by d e f o r ma t i o n
cont r ol or if i ns t ead, a r e duc t i on of s he a r st r ess - cal l ed s of t eni ng - occur s. Bot h defi -
ni t i ons a r e heur i s t i c and ne i t he r me c ha ni c a l l y nor phys i cal l y st ri ct . For cal cul at i ng t he
ener gy excess and st r i ct l y s pe a ki ng t he c ha nge of b o u n d a r y st r esses due t o b o u n d a r y
230 Gerd Gudehus
def or mat i ons also has t o be al l owed for. The sof t eni ng of sat ur at ed undr ai ned soil ele-
ment s comes f r om t he i ncr ease of por e wat er pressure, t he one f or dr ai ned soil el ement s
f r om dilatancy. Ther e is a s pont aneous f or mat i on of i nhomogenei t i es. The l ooseni ng is
concent r at ed in nar r ow shear zones and t he s pont aneous por e pr essur e i ncrease is also
l ocal i zed.
A soil el ement under goes a dest abi l i zat i on if it comes cl oser t o an i ndi f f er ent or col l apsi bl e
state. This ma y ha ppe n passively, due t o t her mal act i vat i on, or act i vel y due t o i mposed
changes of stress or shape.
2. 3. 2 Eart h bodi es
For a gr anul omet r i cal l y homoge ne ous or hor i zont al l y l ayer ed ear t h body wi t h a free or
uni f or ml y pr es s ur e- l oaded hor i zont al surface, vert i cal profi l es suffice f or descri bi ng t he
st at e and its change. A series of l ayers of fine sand and fine silt wi t h a gr ound wat er t abl e
( def i nded by pw = Pa) s omewhat bel ow t he surface may serve as exampl e (Fig. 12). The
por e gas ma y be in channel s above t he gr ound wat er t abl e or in bubbl es bel ow it. The
densi t y i ndex Id may initially be hi gh above t he gr ound wat er t abl e due t o shr i nkage
and small bel ow it and - due t o fl oodi ng of a l ump fabri c - part i al l y negat i ve. The por e
wat er pr essur e is smal l er t han Pa above t he gr ound wat er t abl e and may be part i al l y
hi gher t han hydr ost at i c below. The r at i o of hor i zont al and vert i cal grai n pr essur es above
t he gr ound wat er t abl e is Psh/ Psv ~ 1 due t o capi l l ary act i on, wher eas Eq. 2.18 wi t h a
mat er i al - dependent K0 hol ds below. The t ot al vert i cal pr essur e pv is obt ai ned f r om t he
specific wei ght s r el at ed t o Sr and Id, and f r om it Ps, with Eq. 2. 11b or 2.12, in t he r ange
wi t h gas channel s.
Such a gr ound is onl y sl owl y st abi l i zed by t her mal act i vat i on. Por e wat er evapor at es near
t he surface, except in ver y hi gh air humi di t y, so t hat ps and Id increase. The por e wat er
flows of f gr adual l y f r om r egi ons wi t h hi gher t han hydr ost at i c pr essur e so t hat ps and
Id i ncr ease ( pr i mar y set t l ement , finite compr es s i on law). Un d e r const ant Psv, Id and K0
i ncrease ver y sl owl y ( s econdar y set t l ement , finite cr eep law). The densi fi cat i on-i nduced
st abi l i zat i on is s t r engt hened by small mechani c di st urbances, e. g. vi brat i ons f r om traffic.
A t e mpor a r y dest abi l i zat i on can occur wi t h st r ong di st urbances, e. g. by bl ast i ng or st r ong
ear t hquakes, as pw i ncreases due t o pr event i on of cont r act ancy ( accumul at i on f or mul a or
di fferent i al const i t ut i ve law). Col l apsi bl e soil regi ons (Id < 0) can be c ome liquid (ps = 0),
and small geysers and vol canos can arise f r om t he er upt i on of suspensi on bubbl es. A subse-
quent st abi l i zat i on wi t h a Pw- r educt i on and a/ d- i ncr eas e is t hus subst ant i al l y accel er at ed
c ompa r e d t o a pr i mar y consol i dat i on.
v
Sr Id
o
p~'pa
Psh/Psv
Fig. 12. Partially percolated clayey layers (a),
profiles of degree of saturation (b),
density index (c), pore water pressure (d),
stress ratio (e)
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 231
The gas channel s ar e cl os ed if a wa t e r qua nt i t y c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o t he gas vol ume f r act i on is
a dde d, so t hat pw i ncr eas es and t he r e f or e ps decr eas es . As t he s a t ur a t i on f r ont p r o p a g a t e s
i r r egul ar l y and can encl os e gas pocket s , t he i mpl i e d s of t eni ng is not suf f i ci ent l y c ove r e d
by cons i der i ng e l e me nt s and as s umi ng homoge ne i t y. Lu mp f abr i cs can be dens i f i ed by
a d d e d wa t e r due t o cr as hi ng of l umps, a nd can get t e mp o r a r i l y l i qui d af t er r a pi d f l oodi ng.
Wi t h har d qua r t z gr ai ns onl y a smal l el ast i c swel l i ng can ar i se f r om a ps - r e duc t i on. Fabr i cs
of cl ay par t i cl es swel l much mor e as t he suct i on, whi ch is l ost by wet t i ng, is much hi gher
and as os mot i c pr es s ur es pl ay a r ol e. Wi t h s hr i nka ge cr acks t he s of t eni ng is so i r r e gul a r
t hat t he s t abi l i t y c a nnot be j u d g e d wi t h s pat i al aver ages.
Speci fi c wei ght s and hydr os t a t i c wa t e r pr es s ur es do not al ways suffi ce f or de t e r mi ni ng ps,
and Id a nd ps ar e not uni quel y as s oci at ed. The pr e s s ur e r at i o Psv/ Psh is not cons t ant : I t
can be cl ose t o 1 due t o capi l l ar y suct i on, but al so exceed K0 due t o t ect oni c s hor t e ni ng
or t e mp o r a r y s ur char ge and t hen go back be c a us e of t h e r ma l act i vat i on or r e p e a t e d
me c ha ni c a l di s t ur bance. The s t abi l i t y c a nnot be j u d g e d wi t h soi l e l e me nt s unde r f i ct i t i ous
p e r ma n e n t l a t e r a l pr essur e.
The s t at e of a ser i es of l ayer s on an i ncl i ned bas es can al so be r e p r e s e n t e d by pr of i l es
i f i t is t hi n c o mp a r e d wi t h i t s l at er al e xt e ns i on (Fi g. 13). Ho we v e r one has t o a dd t he
vel oci t i es of t he por e wa t e r and t he gr ai n s ke l e t on dr i ven by it, pa r a l l e l t o t he sl ope. A
l ayer ser i es unde r goe s s t a t i ona r y cr eep, i t s s t at e is i ndi f f er ent t he r e f or e i f a cr i t i cal s t at e
exi st s cl osel y a bove t he base. One t he r e f or e has ( wi t h t he st r ess c o mp o n e n t s by Eqs. 2.2
and 2.3) "rn/Psn = tan q~c a nd Id = 1 ( Sect i on 2.1.2). ~n and t he t ot al pr e s s ur e Pn f ol l ow f r om
t he wei ght and t he i ncl i nat i on, wi t h pw f r om t he wa t e r l evel f ol l ows Psn = P - Pw, tan q)c
is - as f or sl i di ng f r i ct i on - i n d e p e n d e n t of t he s he a r i ng r at e ( he r e D = cos [3. Ovs/ Oz). T h e
cr i t i cal voi d r a t i o ec i ncr eas es due t o t he r ma l act i vat i on howe ve r , whi ch can be a l l owe d
f or i n Eqs. 2.36 and 2.16 or 2.17 ( s ubs cr i pt c i ns t e a d of i ) . D- and e- pr of i l es can t he n be
t r a ns f or me d i nt o each ot he r ba s e d on t r i axi al or s he a r t est s wi t h D = Dr and a d a p t e d t o
ma t c h t he obs er vat i ons .
Ev a p o r a t i o n or dr a i na ge l eads t o a s t abi l i zat i on as Pw goes down, Ps goes up a nd e down.
Be c a us e " ~ n / P s n < tan q~c, D get s s ma l l e r and s ma l l e r a nd pw changes have t o be a l l owe d
for. Conver s el y, an i ncr eas e of pw l eads t o de s t a bi l i z a t i on, whi ch can be c a t a s t r ophi c a l l y
a c c e l e r a t e d due t o l ocal i s ed shear .
For soi l s wi t h bi gger and h a r d e r gr ai ns t he t he r ma l l y a c t i va t e d c r e e p is of t e n negl i gi -
bl e wi t hi n t echni cal l y r e l e va nt pe r i ods but me c ha ni c a l di s t ur ba nc e s have mo r e ef f ect . Id
changes onl y sl i ght l y wi t h ps, but s ubs t ant i al l y wi t h s he a r i ng dur i ng t he f o r ma t i o n or sl i d-
i ng of a sl ope. I f t he soi l is in a cr i t i cal s t at e t h r o u g h o u t f r om pr e vi ous flow, i t s t ar t s t o
move by even t he mi nut e s t di s t ur bances , so t hat t he fl ow pr of i l e c a nnot be r e gul a r and t he
S~ Id P,V'Pa %/Psn v J D r h
V o o , o
a b c d e f
Fig. 13. Inclined soil layer (a), (b) to (e)
state profiles according to Fig. 12,
(f) profile of slope-parallel velocity
232 Gerd Gudehus
surface cannot r emai n pl ane. St ar t i ng f r om an i ndi f f er ent state, a st abi l i zat i on is obt ai ned
onl y wi t h subst ant i al changes of posi t i on. For ver y l oose packi ng (Id < 0), whi ch can resul t
f r om t he f l oodi ng of l ump fabri cs wi t h a l ow sl ope angle, even t he mi nut est di st ur bances
can l ead t o cat ast r ophi c i ncrease of por e pr essur e and velocity, as t he expul si on of wat er
due t o cont r act ancy is pr event ed by t he l ow permeabi l i t y. Densi t i es hi gher t han critical,
(Id > 0) and "~n/Psn < tan q, l ead t o shear i ng and l ooseni ng in nar r ow zones due t o small
di st urbances. Becaus e of shear l ocal i zat i on in a near l y surface-paral l el zone, t he vel oci t y
s hown above i ncreases rapi dl y if ps does not i ncr ease due t o pw- r educt i on because of
pr event i on of di l at ancy in t he case of full sat ur at i on and l ow permeabi l i t y. Shear bands
can al so have ot her posi t i ons resul t i ng in ear t h bl ocks t hat come t o rest aft er a subst ant i al
change of posi t i on.
Eve n t he st abi l i t y of geomet r i cal l y si mpl e sl opes cannot , in general , be sufficiently j udged
by convent i onal ear t h statics. The critical st at e concept yields a critical sl ope angl e and
t he voi d r at i o of t he shear zone, in t he case of known por e wat er pressure, but not t he
cr eep vel oci t y and its change wi t h por e pressure. One can cal cul at e a grai n pr essur e field,
assumi ng t he critical st at e ever ywher e, but t he ori gi n and stability of it are debat abl e.
Wi t h shear st r engt h and por e pr essur e par amet er s based on triaxial tests havi ng ot her
st at e paths, st at es ar e cons t r uct ed whi ch ar e far f r om real i t y and t her ef or e do not enabl e
st at ement s t o be ma de on stability.
Thr ee met hods are wor t h consi der at i on f or a bet t er j udgme nt of stability. Most expensi ve
is a det ai l ed f ol l ow- up of st at es wi t h initial and bounda r y condi t i ons and wi t h conser vat i on
laws and di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws. Gener al l y i nert i al forces and br anchi ngs have t o
be al l owed f or and const ancy al ong sl ope-paral l el pl anes cannot be assumed. A si mpl er
me t hod is t he cal cul at i on of t he excess ki net i c ener gy by assumi ng a vel oci t y profile.
As t he vel oci t y di st r i but i on t hen as s umed need not occur si mul t aneousl y ever ywher e as
in a ki nemat i c chai n t he analysis of pr opagat i on of pl ane shear waves wi t h t he aid of
di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws ( Os s i n o v [23]) gives a bet t er appr oxi mat i on t o reality. Wi t h
ver y l oose packi ng and full sat ur at i on a shear wave causes a t ransi t i on t o flow if t he ener gy
cr i t er i on i ndi cat es a loss of equi l i bri um. Wi t h l oose packi ng and near sat ur at i on with gas
bubbl es, all st abi l i t y cri t eri a near l y coi nci de and a shear wave t ri ggers t he gener at i on
of f ur t her waves in t he ear t h b o d y I f t he wave meet s a dense r egi on it can be hel d
t her e by t he f or mat i on of a shear band. Re pe a t e d shear waves wi t h ampl i t udes t ypi cal
of st r ong ear t hquakes can l ead t o such an i ncr ease of por e pr essur e in sat ur at ed soil t hat
shear waves cannot be pr opa ga t e d f or l ack of shear i ng resi st ance and t he soil flows away.
Wi t hout por e pr essur e i ncrease, r epeat ed shear waves in slopes with l ower t han critical
i ncl i nat i on cause a gr adual change of densi t y and posi t i on in t he sense of st abi l i zat i on,
ot her wi se dest abi l i zat i on occurs.
A cut whi ch is ver y l ong per pendi cul ar l y t o t he pl ane of r epr esent at i on (Fig. 14) with an
initial st at e profi l e as shown in Fig. 12 does not behave like a slope. Mass and stiffness
of st r uct ur al par t s near t he surface may be negl i gi bl e c ompa r e d t o t hose of t he soil.
Negl ect i ng i nert i a and vi scosi t y effects, one can r epl ace t i me by t he dept h of t he excavat i on
monot onous l y i ncreasi ng wi t h it. Changes of posi t i on can be cr udel y est i mat ed at best, wi t h
finite const i t ut i ve laws f or stress pat hs est i mat ed f or it. They are mor e rel i abl y obt ai ned
wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve relations. Changes of por e wat er pressure, due t o changed
hydr aul i c condi t i ons and t he densi t y index, due t o pr essur e changes and dilatancy, have
t o be al l owed for. Shear i ng and l ooseni ng concent r at e i ncreasi ngl y in nar r ow zones. This
l ocal i sat i on is obt ai ned by ext ended const i t ut i ve laws i ndependent l y of t he mesh.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 233
A loss of stability is i ndi cat ed by a di ver gence of changes of posi t i on ( shown by an ar r ow
in Fig. 14c). I n convent i onal ear t h statics, such limit states, char act er i zed by nei ghbour i ng
equi l i br i um positions, are i nvest i gat ed wi t h as s umed slip surfaces and shear resi st ances
al ong t hem. It r emai ns an open ques t i on whet her ot her limit equi l i bri a, wi t h ot her slip
surfaces and st at e quant i t i es assumed al ong t hem, arise and whet her t he limit st at e is
i ndi f f er ent or labile. Mor e reveal i ng ar e numer i cal limit l oad and bi f ur cat i on anal yses
of st at es changed by excavat i on. An i t erat i ve appr oach t o fai l ure modes (i. e. vel oci t y
fields r el at ed wi t h t he ver ge of bear i ng capaci t y or bi f ur cat i on) are r equi r ed, as this is not
an ei genval ue pr obl em as f or a syst em wi t h conser vat i ve forces. I ndi f f er ent or col l apsi bl e
st at es can mor e easily be r ecogni zed by cal cul at i ng t he ener gy excess with semi - empi r i cal l y
assumed fai l ure modes, whi ch r equi r e di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws. Fi l t r at i on flow has
t o be excl uded f or caut i on in stability anal yses, t he vol ume changes ar e t hus rest ri ct ed
accor di ng t o t he gas fract i on.
The st abi l i t y is act ual l y t i me- dependent due t o t her mal act i vat i on. A first appr oxi mat i on
is t he use of i nst at i onar y por e pressures, cal cul at ed wi t h a fictitious unchanged grai n
skel et on but with changed hydr aul i c bounda r y condi t i ons and degr ees of sat ur at i on. The
coupl i ng of grai n skel et on and por e pr essur e mot i ons is bet t er al l owed f or by changes of
voi d r at i o f r om changes of grai n pr essur e and di l at ancy or cont r act ancy. This coupl i ng is
UzA
i j " B
dT
bt
UxA
, t
J .t
0 ~ , t
Fig. 14. Cut (a) with increasing depth
(b), changes of position (c), pore
water pressure (d), mean shear stress
(e) and density index (f) of some
points with time
234 Gerd Gudehus
simplified in t he stability anal ysi s if a fi l t rat i on flow is excl uded. Finally, one can allow f or
cr eep r el axat i on of t he gr ai n skel et on due t o t her mal act i vat i on of t he grai n cont act s. This
is cr udel y achi eved wi t h finite const i t ut i ve laws, but di fferent i al rel at i ons wi t h viscosity
are bet t er.
Weat her and pi pe burst s can change t he soil st at e consi derabl y, but this happens fairly
irregularly. One shoul d pr event de ve l opme nt of cracks and sof t eni ng f r om dr yi ng or
wet t i ng by pr ovi di ng a cover r at her t han fol l ow up wi t h vol umi nous i nvest i gat i ons. Pore
pr essur e me a s ur e me nt s are mor e useful t han cal cul at i ons of t he por e pr essur e evol ut i on
in t he uns at ur at ed zone if consi der abl e i nst at i onar y por e pr essur es are expect ed.
Current l y, changes of st at e due t o var i abl e l oads and vi brat i ons can at best be est i mat ed
wi t h const i t ut i ve laws. Cumul at i ve changes of st at e due t o quasi st at i c al t er nat i ng l oads can
be est i mat ed by cumul at i on laws (Sect i on 3.1.3), whi ch r equi r es a realistic det er mi nat i on
of initial and i nt er medi at e states. Changes of st at e f r om al t er nat i ng l oads are mor e rel i abl y
obt ai ned wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws. De pe ndi ng on al t er nat i on and wai t i ng times,
t he por e pr essur e change due t o hydr aul i c- mechani cal coupl i ng and t he cr eep- r el axat i on
f r om t her mal act i vat i on can t hen be consi der ed.
For i mpact s and vi brat i ons, changes of st at e can likewise be f ol l owed up wi t h an al l owance
f or i nert i al effects. Near l y cyclic changes of por e and grai n pr essur e due t o small rapi d
act i ons - e. g. passage of vehi cl es or e a r t hqua ke waves - can be adequat el y est i mat ed with
t he t heor y of elasticity. Cumul at i ve changes of st at e due t o r epeat ed r api d smal l act i ons
can be est i mat ed wi t h cumul at i on laws if t hey are small c ompa r e d t o t he initial state. For
l onger wai t i ng times, t he t her mal act i vat i on has t o be al l owed f or but not in a col l apse
analysis. For st r ong i mpact s and expl osi ons t he t heor y of elasticity and cumul at i on laws
fail in t he r ange of l arge def or mat i ons, so t hat changes of st at e can onl y be f ol l owed up
wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws.
2. 3. 3 Structural bodi es
The expl anat i ons shown in Fig. 14 can be t r ansf er r ed anal ogousl y t o some ot her geomet r i -
cal condi t i ons and initial states. This hol ds in par t i cul ar f or ear t h bodi es pr oduc e d in l ayers
(e. g. dams) and t hei r under gr ound. Ot he r aspect s are al so i nduced f or st r uct ur al part s
in cont act wi t h soil, as shown f or t he vert i cal di spl acement of a rigid cyl i nder (Fig. 15).
De pe ndi ng on t he i nst al l at i on met hod, t he soil st at e in t he vicinity of t he cyl i nder is dif-
f er ent f r om t he one wi t hout it. I n a na r r ow zone near t he surface of t he cyl i nder t he soil
gener al l y r emai ns in anot her state, whi ch can be expl ai ned wi t h ext ended const i t ut i ve
laws. The evol ut i on of t he vert i cal f or ce F or t he vert i cal di spl acement u wi t h t i me t may
be gi ven (act ual l y t he evol ut i ons of F and u are coupl ed) . The devel opment of soil state
quant i t i es can be r epr es ent ed as shown in Fig. 14, t he i nt erface zone bet ween t he cyl i nder
and t he soil has t o be added. I f por e wat er flow and cr eep- r el axat i on can be negl ect ed
t he r epr es ent at i on of t he resul t wi t h a line F(u) is of use. This is r oughl y obt ai ned with
finite const i t ut i ve laws based on as s umed stress or def or mat i on pat hs and mor e rel i abl y
wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws. The poi nt of bear i ng capaci t y defi ned by dF/du = 0 is
al most obt ai ned by convent i onal cal cul at i on of base fai l ure and mor e preci sel y by differ-
ent i al anal ysi s of nei ghbour i ng equi l i br i um positions. I f t he speed of penet r at i on exceeds
t he per meabi l i t y by several or der s of magni t ude, t he filtration flow has t o be negl ect ed
in t he limit st at e analysis so t hat t he vol ume change of t he soil is const r ai ned dependi ng
on t he gas fract i on. Wi t h l ow densi t y and hi gh permeabi l i t y, t he limit l oad poi nt is not
r eached becaus e of geomet r i cal st abi l i zat i on f r om subst ant i al penet r at i on. Wi t h ver y low
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 235
a 7
F
u
F t . . . . . . .
b / ~
J
i
c
u
\
\
\
e
u
F
IJ
Fig. 15. (a) Axi-symmetric ground and structural body, (b) force and (c) displacement evolution, force-
displacement lines for monotonous (d) and alternating (e) loading. Dashed for higher penetration
velocity.
densi t y and l ow per meabi l i t y a col l apse-l i ke si nki ng af t er t he limit l oad poi nt is possi bl e,
as can be seen f r om t he ener gy excess wi t h t he aid of a st at e field, an as s umed fai l ure mode
and a di fferent i al const i t ut i ve law. I n t he case of hi gh densi t y shear bands gr ow f r om t he
edge of t he cyl i nder so t hat t he bear i ng l oad is r educed, a col l apse becomes possi bl e if it
is exceeded.
Similar di agr ams ar e of use with t her mal act i vat i on if t he vel oci t y of penet r at i on is near l y
cons t ant ( dashed in Fig. 15 f or near l y t enf ol d vel oci t y). Du e t o t he i ncrease i n t he resi st ance
t o r e a r r a nge me nt f r om Eq. 2.36, similarly i ncr eased penet r at i on resi st ances ar e obt ai ned.
For f or ce cont r ol , an i ncrease in di spl acement under cons t ant f or ce is near l y obt ai ned
wi t h finite cr eep laws and mor e preci sel y wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws wi t h vi scous
ext ensi on. I f t he penet r at i on vel oci t y is much hi gher t han t he per meabi l i t y t he penet r at i on
is del ayed by r est r i ct ed compr essi on and t he t e mpor a r y excess por e pr essur es r el at ed
t o it, whi ch can be appr oxi mat el y cal cul at ed wi t h finite const i t ut i ve laws ( convent i onal
consol i dat i on t heor y) and mor e preci sel y wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws. A del ayed
col l apse ( cr eep r upt ur e) can occur in st r ongl y compact abl e, r at her i mper meabl e soils.
For al t er nat i ng l oadi ng, t he penet r at i on wi t h equal maxi mal f or ce is bi gger t han f or
monot oni c l oadi ng. For const ant por e wat er pr essur e this is due t o addi t i onal densifi-
cat i on, wi t h const ant densi t y due t o sat ur at i on and wi t hout filter flow becaus e of por e
pr essur e i ncrease, whi ch in bot h cases is justified by a s t r onger t endency f or cont r act ancy
t han dilatancy. Cycl es wi t h small ampl i t ude can be f ol l owed up wi t h t he t heor y of el ast i ci t y
and small changes of st at e f r om cycles wi t h accumul at i on f or mul ae. For a l arge i nt ended
penet r at i on - e. g. vi br at or y dri vi ng - this is no l onger sufficient and t he soil behavi our
near t he cyl i nder has t o be cover ed by i nt er f ace el ement s (Sect i on 4.3).
Di agr ams such as Fig. 15d and e do not suffice f or st r uct ur al bodi es wi t h mor e t han one
degr ee of f r eedom in r epr esent i ng t he evol ut i on of st at es and f or t he anal ysi s of stability.
On e get s f ar t her wi t h f or ce and di spl acement pat hs as s hown in t he exampl e of a r ot at i ng
and penet r at i ng bl ock (Fig. 16). For mo n o t o n o u s i ncr ease of f or ces and di spl acement s (I),
limit st at es can be r eached ( dashed in Fig. 16b) whi ch ar e char act er i zed by t he exi st ence
236 Ger d Gudehus
r
i
I
a
M
I T '
o 2 r , 3 t u o
0 M/ b 0
b c
.1.
t . /
T
Fig. 16. Force (a) and displacement paths (b) of a rotating and penet rat i ng block (a)
o f d i f f e r e n t i a l l y n e i g h b o u r i n g e q u i l i b r i u m pos i t i ons . Th e s e c a n b e l a bi l e (e. g. i n Fig. 16a)
b e c a u s e o f t h e i n c r e a s e o f M wi t h ~p, o r i n d i f f e r e n t ( n o t i n t he f i gur e) . Be c a u s e o f t h e
e q u a l i z i n g e f f e c t o f t he s t r u c t u r a l b o d y wh i c h d e f o r ms l i t t l e c o mp a r e d wi t h t he soil, t he
d e t e r mi n a t i o n o f f o r c e a n d d i s p l a c e me n t p a t h s is a c h i e v e d wi t h f e w soi l e l e me n t s a n d
s i mp l i f y i n g a s s u mp t i o n s f o r d i s t r i b u t i o n o f s t a t e q u a n t i t i e s i n t h e soil. Fi ni t e c o n s t i t u t i v e
r e l a t i o n s a r e o f us e f o r c o a r s e e s t i ma t i o n s b u t f o r t h e anal ys i s o f st abi l i t y, d i f f e r e n t i a l
c o n s t i t u t i v e l aws a r e i n d i s p e n s a b l e . Mu t u a l l y a s s o c i a t e d p a t h s ( a s i n Fig. 16b a n d c) a r e
a l s o s u i t a b l e f o r mo r e t h a n t wo d e g r e e s o f f r e e d o m (e. g. s i mu l t a n e o u s s e t t l e me n t , t i l t i ng
a n d s l i di ng) . An e x t e n s i o n t o c o v e r f o u n d a t i o n g r o u p s he l d t o g e t h e r b y a s u p e r s t r u c t u r e
is a l s o pos s i bl e .
As i n t h e c a s e o f Fig. 15, t h e r ma l a c t i v a t i o n i n t he g r a i n s k e l e t o n c a n b e a l l o we d f or wi t h
t h e ai d o f Eq . 2.36, i f t h e soi l is h o mo g e n o u s wi t h r e s p e c t t o t h e vi s c os i t y i ndex. Th u s
l i mi t s t a t e c u r v e s d e p e n d i n g o n t h e r a t e o f d i s p l a c e me n t a r e o b t a i n e d , o r d i s p l a c e me n t s
d e p e n d i n g o n t he l o a d d u r a t i o n . T h e t i me e f f e c t o f f i l t r a t i on ha s t o b e a l l o we d f or , d e p e n d -
i ng o n p e r me a b i l i t y a n d h y d r a u l i c b o u n d a r y c ondi t i ons .
Sp e c i a l e f f e c t s c a n o c c u r f o r p a t h s wi t h s e v e r a l s t r o n g c h a n g e s o f d i r e c t i o n ( a l t e r n a t i n g
p a t h s , e . g. I I i n Fig. 16). I t s ugges t s , as wi t h soi l e l e me n t s f a r f r o m l i mi t s t at es , t ha t o n e
s h o u l d a s s u me l i n e a r l y e l a s t i c b e h a v i o u r a n d t o a l l ow f o r s ma l l c h a n g e s o f s t a t e by f i ni t e
c u mu l a t i o n laws. Thi s is i ns uf f i c i e nt h o we v e r , i f p a r t s o f t he g r o u n d , i n s pi t e o f s uf f i ci ent
o v e r a l l st abi l i t y, r e p e a t e d l y r e a c h l i mi t s t a t e s (e. g. f o r Fig. 16 n e a r t h e e d g e ) , l e a d i n g t o
s o f t e n i n g a n d r o c k i n g o f t he s t r u c t u r a l body. On l y a r e f i n e d f o l l o w- u p o f s t a t e s c a n s h o w
h o w f a r s i mpl i f i e d a p p r o a c h e s s uf f i ce f o r t h e p a t h s a n d wh e t h e r l oc a l s o f t e n i n g c a n b e
a v o i d e d b y s t r u c t u r a l modi f i c a t i ons .
We n o w t u r n t o t h e mu t u a l i nf l ue nc e o f n e i g h b o u r i n g s t r u c t u r a l b o d i e s t h r o u g h t he g r o u n d
(Fi g. 17). Ch a n g e s o f s t a t e i n t h e ne a r - f i e l d o f a s t r u c t u r a l b o d y a c t u p o n i t s n e i g h b o u r s
l a r g e l y i n d e p e n d e n t l y o f t h e i r s p a t i a l d i s t r i b u t i o n , s o t h a t a s i mpl i f i c a t i on o f b o u n d a r y
c o n d i t i o n s is j us t i f i ed. T h e r e f o r e a l i n e a r l y d i s t r i b u t e d b o t t o m p r e s s u r e u n d e r a s t r u c t u r a l
b o d y s uf f i ces t o c a l c u l a t e i t s q u a s i s t a t i c a c t i o n u p o n t h e n e i g h b o u r wi t h r e s p e c t t o di s-
p l a c e me n t s o r f o r c e s ( a) . Ch a n g e s o f t he p r e s s u r e d i s t r i b u t i o n a r e l i mi t e d b y t he pl a s t i c i t y
o f t h e soil. Sma l l c h a n g e s o f g r a i n p r e s s u r e u n d e r t he n e i g h b o u r i n g s t r u c t u r a l b o d y c a n
b e e s t i ma t e d wi t h l i n e a r el ast i ci t y, l a r g e r c h a n g e s c a n b e f o l l o we d u p wi t h d i f f e r e n t i a l
c o n s t i t u t i v e l aws.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint
237
Fig. 17. Simplified near-fields of neighbouring structural bodies: foundation base (a), penetration (b),
excavation (c), building pit (d)
This hol ds t r ue al so f or dynami cal l y l oaded nei ghbour i ng st ruct ural bodi es (e. g. dri vi ng,
Fig. 17b). Resul t i ng f or ces and t hei r t empor al evol ut i on, whi ch are obt ai ned f r om det ai l ed
analysis, may be di st r i but ed at t he shaft and t he f oot of t he penet r at i ng st r uct ur al body in
a simplified manner . Near l y cyclic st at e changes under t he nei ghbour i ng st r uct ur al body
can be est i mat ed wi t h l i near elasticity and gr adual l y i ncreasi ng st at e changes wi t h t he
numbe r of cycles by cumul at i on laws. This is not as easy f or subst ant i al por e pr essur e
devel opment due t o t he t endency f or cont r act ancy and bad drai nage, but this case shoul d
be avoi ded geot echni cal l y.
I n t he case of a nei ghbour i ng excavat i on t he densi t y change caused by t he t ool is consi d-
er abl e onl y in a nar r ow near-field (Fig. 17c). The act i on upon a st r uct ur e is adequat el y
al l owed f or by a s t epped r educt i on of t he ori gi nal soil pr essur es in t he r egi on of exca-
vat i on. Anal ogousl y, t he bot t om pr essur e under a nei ghbour i ng fill is i ncr eased in st eps
and si mpl y di st r i but ed as redi st ri but i ons. Spr eadi ng shear stress scarcel y i nfl uences t he
nei ghbour i ng st ruct ure. Apa r t f r om t he bi gger mass and stiffness of t he nei ghbour i ng
st r uct ur e t he expl anat i ons gi ven in Fig. 14 still hol d. The i nt er act i on is compl i cat ed mor e
by combi nat i on and smal l er di st ances (Fig. 17d). To avoi d a l arge a mount of numer i cal
cal cul at i on it is still cover ed in t he si mpl est possi bl e manner . Simplified di st ri but i ons al so
suffice f or nei ghbour i ng changes of por e wat er mot i ons and pr essur es (e. g. due t o injec-
t i on or sinking). However , hydr aul i c l ocal i zat i on becaus e of pr edet er mi ned or wi deni ng
channel s has t o be exempt ed.
3 S t r e s s - s t r a i n r e l a t i o n s
3 . 1 Fi ni t e c o n s t i t u t i v e l a ws
3. 1. 1 El ast i ci t y
A small def or mat i on E can be r el at ed t o a small stress change ATs in a fictitious i sot r opi c
grai n skel et on by
"V
ATs = 2GE + 2G l t r E (3.1)
1 - 2v
Whe r e t he symbol A i ndi cat es t hat - ot her t han wi t h solids - a non- vani shi ng initial stress
Ts is necessary. Accor di ng t o Eq. 2.32 t he shear modul us i ncreases wi t h t he me a n gr ai n
238 Gerd Gudehus
pr essur e Ps as follows:
G = gdhs(~Ts ) l - n (3.2)
and vani shes f or Ps = 0. Gr anul at e har dness hs and t he exponent n depend on t he grai n
pr oper t i es, t he f act or g,t changes wi t h t he densi t y i ndex la. The Poi sson' s rat i o v lies
bet ween about 0.3 und 0.45. Mo l e n k a mp [17] gives a similar f or mul a.
El ast i c behavi our is obs er ved f or def or mat i ons bel ow t ypi cal t hr eshol d values, rangi ng
f r om about 10 - 5 f or cl ay t o 10 - s f or ballast. The par amet er s in Eq. 3.2 can be det er-
mi ned f r om r es onant col umn tests [26, 28] or est i mat ed accor di ng t o Sect i on 3.3.3. The
pr opagat i on speeds of elastic compr es s i on and shear waves ar e obt ai ned f r om Eq. 3.1 as
Cp = V/2(l - v) G/ ( 1 - 2v)p, Cs = G~GTp (3.3)
so t hat v can be de t e r mi ne d f r om Cp/Cs.
Appl i cat i on limits have t o be kept in mi nd when cal cul at i ng wave pr opagat i ons and vi bra-
t i ons wi t h Eq. 3.1. Eq. 3.2 shows t hat even a gr anul omet r i cal l y homoge ne ous soil with
hor i zont al surface is i nhomoge ne ous wi t h r espect t o G. A homogeni zat i on is obt ai ned
wi t h por e wat er under pr es s ur e in t he vi ci ni t y of t he soil surface, whi ch is bi gger with
smal l er grains. Wh e n t he def or mat i on t hr eshol d is exceeded t he appl i cat i on of l i near
el ast oki net i cs is empi r i cal l y justified at best.
As t he speed of wave pr opagat i on exceeds t he per meabi l i t y by several power s of ten,
a fi l t rat i on of por e wat er is i mpossi bl e dur i ng vi brat i ons. Vol ume changes are t her ef or e
i ncreasi ngl y const r ai ned wi t h i ncreasi ng degr ee of sat ur at i on St. I f gas bubbl es bet ween
t he grai ns are so bi g t hat t he pr essur e di f f er ence pg-pw c ompa r e d t o t he por e wat er
pr essur e pw is negligible, its change wi t h t he vol ume change t r E is obt ai ned by
l + e
Apw = - P w e(1 - Sr~) tr E (3.4)
Eqs. 3.1 and 3.4 have t o be combi ned usi ng Eq. 2.11a, resul t i ng i nt o reversi bl e por e
pr essur e changes f or t he pr opagat i on of l ongi t udi nal waves. Eq. 3.4 is not val i d for ver y
small gas bubbl es due t o capi l l ary act i on and pr es s ur e- dependent solubility of gas. For full
sat ur at i on (St = 1), t he const r ai nt tr E = 0 r epl aces Eq. 3.4, so t hat compr es s i on waves
be c ome t heor et i cal l y i mpossi bl e.
The l i nearl y elastic behavi our of si mpl e grai n skel et ons is gener al l y ani sot ropi c. An
or t hot r opi c gener al i zat i on of Eq. 3.1 can be consi der ed f or compact cl ay soils, but
t he di r ect i onal par amet er s can as yet onl y be obt ai ned f r om exper i ment s ( i nher ent
ani sot r opy) . The ani s ot r opy r el at ed wi t h grai n stress (cal l ed i nduced) can be al l owed
f or wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws (Sect i ons 3.2.3 and 3.3.3).
3.1.2 Ps e udo - e l a s t i c i t y
For al t er nat i ng l oadi ng of t he soil with small ampl i t udes, t he changes of st at e ar e most l y
reversi bl e so t hat onl y t hei r cumul at i on can be r egi st er ed af t er ma ny di r ect i onal changes
( Sect i on 3.1.3). Changes of st at e wi t hi n one cycle can be sufficiently expl ai ned using
Eq. 3.1, and in t he case of por e wat er wi t h gas bubbl es Eq. 3.4 can al so be used. ( The ener gy
di ssi pat i on is not al l owed f or in a physi cal l y adequat e way by l i near vi scous dampi ng or
wi t h compl ex shear modul i . )
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 239
Ps eudo- modul i can be gi ven as rat i os A T s / A E of par t i cul ar c ompone nt s f or par t i cul ar
monot onous pat hs f or anel ast i c changes of state. For uni axi al compr es s i on in t he oe dome -
t er test one can use t he so-cal l ed stiffness modul us
Es = A T s l / A E t (3.5)
wi t h t he axial c ompone nt s ATsl and AE1. ATs ~/ AEl is cal l ed t he def or mat i on modul us
Ev f or cyl i ndri cal shor t eni ng wi t h const ant l at eral pressure. For shear i ng with const ant
pressure a ps eudo- modul us
G~ = At / AT (3.6)
can be used. These quant i t i es are cal l ed t angent modul i f or t he t r ansi t i on f r om di fferences
t o di fferent i al s and secant modul i when using t he di f f er ences bet ween pat h r ever sal points.
For a given initial grai n stress, voi d r at i o and pat h di r ect i on t hey lie bet ween mi ni mal
val ues (Esp, Evp or Gsp) and maxi mal ones (E~e, Eve or Gse) f or ma xi mum plastic or
maxi mum elastic behavi our . (The not i ons static and dynami c modul i ar e mi sl eadi ng, as
t he di fferences have not hi ng t o do wi t h di f f er ent vel oci t i es f or static or dynami c cases.
I t is also not advi sabl e t o use t he not i ons first l oadi ng, unl oadi ng and rel oadi ng, as t hese
coul d be made obj ect i ve onl y by means of special const i t ut i ve laws, whi ch are physi cal l y
not necessary. ) For unc e me nt e d grai n skel et ons t he di f f er ence comes f r om bi gger or
smal l er i rregul ari t i y of t he grai n cont act f or ces (Sect i ons 2.1.1, 3.2.3 and 3.3.3). The r at i o
of hi ghest and l owest val ues is near l y const ant ,
Ese/ Esp ~ Eve/ Evp "~ Gse/ Gsp = me (3.7)
wi t h me bet ween about 3 and 10.
As s umi ng i sot ropy, one can t r ans f or m t he maxi mal val ues by usi ng Eq. 3.1. This is no
l onger al l owed if anel ast i c por t i ons domi nat e becaus e of bi gger def or mat i ons. I n part i c-
ular, di l at ancy and cont r act ancy have not hi ng t o do wi t h Poi ssons' s r at i o and decr easi ng
di fferent i al stiffness, when appr oachi ng limit states, has not hi ng t o do wi t h elasticity. The
smal l est val ues can be est i mat ed usi ng hypopl ast i ci t y in t hei r de pe nde nc e on grai n pres-
sure and voi d rat i o ( Sect i on 3.3.2). For monot onous processes, uppe r bounds ar e obt ai ned
f or di spl acement s wi t h gi ven forces, and l ower bounds f or f or ces wi t h gi ven di spl acement s.
Such an appl i cat i on of elasticity t heor y can onl y ser ve as cr ude appr oxi mat i on, as t he phys-
ical supposi t i ons (reverseabi l i t y and l i neari t y) are not given. Pr essur e di st ri but i ons in t he
soil can t hus al so be appr oxi mat ed ( Poul os [25]).
Ther e are non- l i near finite const i t ut i ve laws f or speci al mo n o t o n o u s paths. For pr opor -
t i onal compr essi on, t he ps eudo- equat i ons of state gi ven in Sect i on 2.1.2 ar e of use. I f t he
assumed initial st at es are not gi ven however , this l eads t o a scarcel y t r act abl e under es -
t i mat i on of stiffness. Wor ki ng lines f or special l oadi ng condi t i ons can be appr oxi mat ed
by di fferent f or mul ae, whi ch can be used t o fit di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws, but f or l ack
of obj ect i vi t y not f or sol vi ng initial bounda r y val ue pr obl ems. An except i on is ma de by
power laws like
ATs = PsogpE f~ (3.8)
using a r ef er ence pr essur e PsO, a s t at e- dependent f act or gp and an exponent [3. As l ong
as [5 is const ant , whi ch can empi ri cal l y be t he case at least f or cons t ant pressure, f or ce-
di spl acement - l aws of t he same f or m are concl uded f r om Eq. 3.8.
240 Gerd Gudehus
Pseudo- el ast i c finite const i t ut i ve laws r equi r e cer t ai n stress and def or mat i on pat hs t hat
can be est i mat ed on this basis, but mor e preci sel y det er mi ned onl y wi t h di fferent i al con-
st i t ut i ve laws. They ar e onl y sui t abl e f or est i mat i ng di spl acement s or forces. Af t e r j udgi ng
all t he ot her r equi r ement s, one shoul d deci de whet her a di fferent i al const i t ut i ve law is
necessary.
3. 1. 3 Ac c umul a t i o n and creep- rel axat i on
Near l y cyclic changes of st at e arise f r om al t er nat i ng l oadi ng of si mpl e grai n skel et ons
wi t h small def or mat i on ampl i t udes. I f t her mal act i vat i on is negligible, t her e is a rat e-
i nde pe nde nt accumul at i on of st at e quant i t i es. Fi ni t e const i t ut i ve laws are t hen gener al l y
not suitable. Cal cul at i ons wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws are so c umbe r s ome for l arge
numbe r s of cycl es however , t hat one has t o wor k wi t h simplified appr oxi mat i on formul ae.
One can r ef er t o a series of cycles if stress and def or mat i on ampl i t udes r emai n near l y
cons t ant inside it. An elastic const i t ut i ve law hol ds appr oxi mat el y t r ue wi t hi n each cycle
wher e t he shear modul us depends on voi d rat i o and pr essur e (Sect i on 3.1.1). For al most
cons t ant pr essur e t he voi d rat i o t ends t o a pr es s ur e- dependent l ower bound ed (Fig. 10).
The r educt i on of voi d r at i o wi t h t he numbe r of cycles N can t hen be appr oxi mat ed by
d e = - ( e - ed )tr E c d N (3.9)
wher e Ec is t he def or mat i on ampl i t ude and x a mat er i al const ant . I t t her ef or e fol l ows
t hat
e = e d -]- ( ea - e d ) e x p ( - - t c E c N ) (3.10)
wi t h t he initial voi d r at i o e a .
For gr ai n pr essur e cycles t he def or mat i ons i ncrease wi t h each cycle. I t is of t en assumed
t hat a def or mat i on c ompone nt i ncreases by
d E = K e d N / N
so t hat t he i ncr ease is r educed by i ncreasi ng N, and
(3.11)
E = E o + K e l n N (N > 1) (3.12)
is obt ai ned. Ke depends on grai n pr essur e component s.
Si mi l ar appr oaches can be der i ved f or t he mean pr essur e r educt i on wi t h def or mat i on
cycl es and cons t ant vol ume (Fig. 10). These appr oaches and t he par amet er s t herei n, are
of t en fitted t o t he resul t s of special cyclic tests, but this is debat abl e because of t he arbi -
t rari ness of t he initial st at es wi t hout an al l owance f or asympt ot i c pr oper t i es of t he grai n
skel et on. Bet t er accumul at i on f or mul ae and mor e r el evant par amet er s can be obt ai ned
by i nt egr at i on wi t h di fferent i al const i t ut i ve laws (Sect i ons 3.2.3 and 3.3.3). They serve f or
numer i cal si mpl i fi cat i on in or der t o avoi d a non- l i near i nt egr at i on over numer ous cycles.
At t he end of a series of cycles - arbi t rari l y del i mi t ed by t ol er ances - cumul at i ve changes
of st at e quant i t i es have t o be cor r ect ed by means of a const i t ut i ve law f or a monot onous
cor r ect i on pat h, so t hat equi l i br i um and compat i bi l i t y rel at i ons are satisfied. Cont i nui t y
of t he di fferent i al stiffness mat ri x is a necessar y assumpt i on f or such an appr oxi mat i on
met hod.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 241
T h e s t a t i o n a r y v i s c o u s f l o w due t o t he r ma l act i vat i on has a l r e a d y be de a l t wi t h in Sec-
t i on 2.2.2. I n Eq. 2.17 t he me a n gr ai n pr e s s ur e ( i ns t e a d of Eq. 2.36) is gi ven by
p s = P s r e x p ~ - c ) l + I v l n ~- r
Wh e r e i n Psr is t he Ps f or s t a t i ona r y fl ow wi t h D = Dr and e = e r . I n Eqs. 2.34 a nd 2.35
t he vi scosi t y i nde x is
G
I v = k T - - (3. 14)
c 2 d 3
whe r e onl y t he p r o p o r t i o n a l i t y wi t h T and G is of use, whe r e a s t he c ont a c t qua nt i t i e s c
a nd d can onl y be c r ude l y e s t i ma t e d. Ac c o r d i n g t o Eqs. 3.13 a nd 3.14, ps i ncr eas es f or
c ons t a nt voi d r a t i o due t o an i ncr eas e of D or T, whe r e a s f or c ons t a nt Ps t he voi d r a t i o
i ncr eas es wi t h an i ncr eas e of D or T.
Eq. 3.13 hol ds f or p r o p o r t i o n a l c ompr e s s i on wi t h a l owe r el , and e goes down gr adual l y.
For uni axi al s hor t e ni ng D is r e l a t e d t o t he r at e of voi d r a t i o k by D = k/ ( 1 + el ) . Wi t h
c ons t a nt gr ai n pr e s s ur e (,bs = 0), Eq. 3.13 t hen gi ves
C~ ~ I ~ (3. 15)
Wi t h t he i ni t i al c ondi t i on e = e0, k = k0 and f or t = to one can c onc l ude
e = eo - Cc l v ( 1 + eo) l n ( t / t o ) ( t > t o) (3. 16)
Wh e n usi ng t hi s empi r i cal l y known r e l a t i on f or s e c onda r y c ons ol i da t i on [27], one t a ke s
t he dur a t i on of pr i ma r y c ons ol i da t i on as to. Ho we v e r Eq. 3.16 is not f ul l y cor r ect : The
f act or 1 + I v l n ( D / D r ) has been r e pl a c e d by 1 i n Eq. 3.15, ~0 = C c l v / t o doe s not ge ne r a l l y
hol d f or t = to and Eq. 2.17 c a nnot hol d f or ver y s mal l and ver y bi g val ues of p s . Eq. 2.36
has t o be r e pl a c e d by a l i near vi scosi t y r e l a t i on f or e x t r e me l y s mal l D, so e t e nds t o a l i mi t
val ue f or ps = 0, but onl y af t er e x t r e me l y l ong per i ods .
The r e duc t i on of voi d r at i o can al so be de s c r i be d by Eq. 3.16 f or ot he r c r e e p cases wi t h con-
s t ant s ke l e t on pr es s ur e. For e s t i ma t i ng t he i nc r e a s e i n d e f o r ma t i o n c ompone nt s , one can
c ons i de r t hei r r a t i o as cons t ant f or a p r o p o r t i o n a l c ompr e s s i on. Such s i mpl e a p p r o a c h e s
a r e no l onge r j us t i f i ed f or smal l d e f o r ma t i o n s af t er a change of pa t h di r ect i on, as t he
gr ai n s ke l e t on' s s t at e is no l onger de s c r i be d t he n onl y by voi d r at i o, gr ai n pr e s s ur e t e ns or
a nd s t r et chi ng r at e. The r e ar e al so no phys i cal l y j us t i f i ed f i ni t e cons t i t ut i ve l aws f or t he
r e l a xa t i on of a f i xed gr ai n s kel et on.
3. 2 El a s t o p l a s t i c i t y
3. 2. 1 Si mpl e f l ow c ondi t i on and as s oci at ed f l ow rul e
Fo r pl as t i c de f or ma t i ons of a per f ect sol i d one has t o c ons i de r onl y t he de vi a t or s
T * = T - l l t r T , E * = E - 1 1 t r T (3. 17)
3 3
as t he vol ume changes ar e el ast i c i f e x t r e me l y hi gh pr e s s ur e s or t e ns i on s t r es s es a r e
e xc l ude d [20]. The de vi a t or i c d e f o r ma t i o n e ne r gy p e r uni t vol ume i n t he case of i s ot r opy,
U* = t r T*2/ 2G (3. 18)
242 Gerd Gudehus
is t he pot ent i al of t he elastic devi at or i c def or mat i on,
E* = OU*/OT* ( 3 . 1 9 )
in accor dance wi t h Eq. 3.1. I f U* satisfies t hef l ow condition
: = U* - ~c2/G = 0 (3.20) F
wi t h cohes i on c, a plastic def or mat i on r at e Ep will arise, t he di r ect i on of whi ch is gi ven
by t he associated flow rule
~ ] p = i t 0 F / 0 T * ( 3 . 2 1 )
wi t h an as yet undet er mi ned f act or 2 > 0. As a resul t of Eqs. 3.18 and 3.19, Ep is pr opor -
t i onal t o T* and E~.
By di sl ocat i ons, whi ch arise al r eady dur i ng cryst al l i sat i on and cont i nue dur i ng plastic
def or mat i ons, spat i al l y fl uct uat i ng ei genst resses arise and t he i sot r opy is lost. One can
f ol l ow up t he compos i t e behavi our wi t h an as s umed initial ar r ay and stress-field f or per f ect
crystallites. However , f r equent l y one wor ks i nst ead wi t h a fictitious ei genst ress a and uses
Eqs. 3.18 t o 3.21 wi t h t he stress di f f er ence [18]
T* = T* - a (3.22)
i nst ead of T*. The change of a wi t h plastic def or mat i on is descr i bed by a har deni ng law,
a = At"* t r(Ep' l ' *) (3.23)
wher e A denot es a cons t ant and ~i'* = T*/ I T* I is t he devi at or i c stress di rect i on. Usi ng
t he consistency condition r equi r ed f or cont i nued plastic def or mat i on,
/ O F . . ~ a aOF')
= tr [ 0 - ~ - T + = 0 (3.24)
one obt ai ns
2 = G t r ( T *e 4*)/A tr(T*l"*) tr(T~*~i TM) (3.25)
Wi t h t he decompos i t i on
E = Ee + Ep (3.26)
of t he def or mat i on r at e i nt o an elastic and a pl ast i c por t i on, one t hen obt ai ns t he differ-
ent i al const i t ut i ve law
E* = ( T* - -< it >- OF/OT*)/G (3.27)
wher e -< 2 >-= it hol ds f or F = 0 and si mul t aneousl y tr(T~1"*) > 0 (cal l ed l oadi ng),
ot her wi se -~ it ~-= 0.
Eqs. 3.21, 3.22, 3.24 and 3.27 are most l y cont ai ned in modi fi cat i ons of this t heory, whilst
ot her flow condi t i ons and har deni ng rul es are pr opos e d i nst ead of Eqs. 3.20 and 3.23. A
cryst al -physi cal j ust i fi cat i on of a has not yet been achi eved and is not strictly possible.
Eq. 3.23 is i nt ended t o cover t he equal i zat i on of ei genst resses by plastification, whi ch
is anal ogous wi t h anneal i ng, but t he initial val ue a0 and t he asympt ot i c val ue aa f or
unl i mi t ed plastic def or mat i on are not clear. To det er mi ne t he asympt ot e, Eq. 3.23 shoul d
be modi f i ed so t hat ~ = 0 is obt ai ned f or a --+ aa. Pl ast i c vol ume changes have t o be added
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 243
P s 1 " P s 2 '
P u F = O
. . . . I ~ ~ . sl-s2p
i I 1 + 2 S 2 p " I I s ' + 2 s z j
o k : o , , o .
IV III
Fig. 18. Simple flow condition and flow
rule for cylindrically symmetric grain
skeletons
f or solids wi t h pores, whi ch can be descr i bed by changes of t he por e vol ume f r act i on np.
The equat i ons have t o be ext ended by vol umet r i c por t i ons and c also depends on np.
Wi t h this t heor y t he behavi our of mi ner al grai ns can be cover ed as far as abr asi on and
f r agment at i on can be excl uded. Skel et ons c ompos e d of such grai ns show anot her behav-
i our f or t wo reasons, however . Wi t h i ncreasi ng gr ai n pr essur e t he solid cont act s (flats)
gr ow and cont act s appear and di sappear wi t h r ear r angement s . Pr essur e and voi d f r act i ons
t her ef or e pl ay a far gr eat er rol e t han wi t h metals, and t he t r ansi t i ons bet ween elastic and
plastic behavi our are less mar ked. The nume r ous var i ant s of el ast opl ast i c const i t ut i ve
laws t her ef or e descri be t he behavi our r at her cr udel y in a simple, or mor e preci sel y in a
compl i cat ed ma nne r [19].
Si mpl e el ast opl ast i c const i t ut i ve laws can be f or mul at ed f or gr ai n skel et ons, as i l l ust rat ed
wi t h Fig. 18. To allow f or changes of voi d ratio, t he grai n pr essur e is nor mal i zed by
er - - e
Pe = Psr e x p - (3. 28)
Cc
I n Eq. 2.17, Pe is t he Ps f or an i sot r opi c first l oadi ng, l eadi ng t o e = er f or Ps = Psr.
Cyl i ndri cal l y symmet r i c def or mat i ons ar e r epr es ent ed by t he pl ast i c por t i ons of shor t -
eni ng rates, (kl + 2s2) and (kl - k2), in t he pl ane of nor mal i zed pr essur e c ompone nt s
Ps / Pe = (Psi + 2ps2) / 3pe and (psi - PsZ)/ Pe. An ellipse-like cur ve is as s umed as t he
limit of t he elastic range. The t angent of this cur ve on t he p s / Pe - a x i s at t he poi nt s 0 and 1
is vert i cal and is hor i zont al at t he poi nt s descr i bed by Eq. 2.30. For elastic def or mat i ons
Eq. 3.1 hol ds in t he special f or m f or cyl i ndri cal symmet r y. Pl ast i c def or mat i ons arise if t he
flow condi t i on
F ( pspe' Ps' ---Ps2~ / (3.29)
is satisfied wi t h a f unct i on F r epr esent i ng t he cur ve in t he case of l oadi ng defi ned by
OF OF
- - P s -q- (Psi - Ps2) > 0 (3.30)
Ops O( Ps l -- Ps 2)
Similarly t o Eq. 3.21, t he plastic def or mat i on r at e has t o satisfy t he nor mal i t y condi t i ons
kip + 2S2p = 20F/ O( ps l + 2ps2) ( 3. 31a)
Si p - - S2p = 20F/ O( ps ] - Ps2) ( 3. 31b)
244 Gerd Gudehus
In isotropic states with Ps = Pe or Ps = 0 indicates an isotropic compressi on or exten-
sion in critical states with a const ant -vol ume deformat i on. 2 follows from the consistency
condi t i on
OF OF OF
Ops Ps + O( Ps l - Ps2) (/~sl - - /9s2) -]- Ope Pe" = 0 (3.32)
where, from Eq. 3.28 k = (1 + e)(slp + 2k2p), and
De = p e ( S l p n t- 2S2p)(1 + e) (3.33)
are substituted. This leads to the differential constitutive law
Ps OF
Sl + 2s2 -- t- -< 2 >- - - / ~s (3.34a)
E (1 - 2v) Ops
[Jsl - Ps2 0 F
Sl - - s2 - - ~ 4 - " < 2 >- O( Ps l - - Ps 2) (Psl - - Ps2) (3.34b)
For stress paths I and II in Fig. 18, with/Ss = 0, the working lines represent ed in Fig. 19 are
obt ai ned. Before reachi ng the flow limit, the pressure difference and the void ratio change
linearly with axial shortening. The void ratio increases or decreases by plastification until
a critical value ec rel at ed to p s is reached if ( p s i - p s 2 ) 2 / ( p s l + ps2) 2 is smaller or larger
t han sin 2 q~c. p s i - Ps2 changes reversibly for un- and rel oadi ng and e remai ns constant.
Aft er reaching the critical state p s i - ps 2 and e remai n constant. (The peak of p s i - ps 2
can be described by a convent i onal limit condi t i on with c / and q/ dependi ng on e. c t and
are therefore not mat eri al const ant s and the limit condi t i on is not a flow condition. )
For const ant void ratio (Pe = 0) the elastic behavi our is as before, for plastification Ps and
P s l / m s 2
)
$1
I
ea
)
S2
Ps 1 -Ps2
)
Iv
Fig. 19. Elastoplastic changes of the stress difference (a) and the
void ratio (b) for axial symmetry and constant mean pressure,
stress changes with constant void ratio (c)
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 245
' P s ~
P s 2 I P s 3
I
Fig. 20. Isotropic flow condition and flow rule in the
deviator plane
I P s i - - P s 2 I de c r e a s e or i ncr eas e as l ong as ( ps i - Ps2)2/(Psl + Ps2) 2 is s ma l l e r or bi gger
t han sin 2 q~e r es pect i vel y ( pat hs I I I and I V) .
For gener al c uboi da l de f or ma t i ons t hi s t he or y can be e x t e n d e d t o t hr e e pr i nci pal c o mp o -
nent s. Ap a r t f r om a cr oss s ect i on as s hown in Fi g. 18, t he pr oj e c t i on ont o a d e v i a t o r pl a ne
p, = const is t hen usef ul (Fig. 20). The el l i ps e- l i ke fl ow c ondi t i on F(Psl, Ps2, Ps3) = 0
a ppe a r s as a cl os ed convex cur ve wi t h 120 - s ymme t r y i n t he case of i sot r opy. Si mi l ar l y t o
Eq. 2.5, t he nor ma l gi ves t he di r ect i on ~* /3* of t he de vi a t or i c pl as t i c s hor t e ni ng r at e.
l p / 2p
The cyl i ndr i cal l y s ymme t r i c case s hown in Fi g. 19 is i mpl i e d i f Eq. 2.30 hol ds f or cr i t i cal
s t at es wi t h ~lp + k2p + k3p = 0. For a r bi t r a r y d e f o r ma t i o n s of gr ai n s kel et ons , a s s ume d t o
be i sot r opi c, t he fl ow c ondi t i on can be r e p r e s e n t e d as
F(PS'tan[3s'tans)\pe = 0 (3. 35)
wi t h t he f unct i ons
tanl3s = ~ r T 2 / p s , cOSs = ~/ 6t r T*3/ ( t r T*3) 3/2 (3. 36)
of t he angl es [Ss a nd s shown in Figs. 18 a nd 20. The f act or )~ in t he fl ow r ul e
Dp = 2O F/OTs (3. 37)
f ol l ows f r om t he cons i s t ency c ondi t i on
t r ~ T s + O p e Pe" = 0 (3. 38)
wi t h/ ) e gi ven by Eq. 3.23 and - t r Dp i ns t e a d of kip + 2S2p. Fr o m Eqs. 3.1 a nd 3.2 f or t he
el ast i c por t i on, one obt ai ns t he di f f er ent i al cons t i t ut i ve l aw Eq. 3.27 wi t h Ts i ns t e a d of
T*.
Wi t h di f f er ent a ppr oa c he s f or F in Eqs. 3.29 or 3.35 t he pl ast i c b e h a v i o u r f or mo n o t o n o u s
pr oces s es can be mo d e l l e d wel l . The ps e udo- e l a s t i c b e h a v i o u r can be c o v e r e d wi t h a
p r e s s u r e - d e p e n d e n t s hear modul us f r om Eq. 3.2. Pe can be de s c r i be d f or a wi de r pr e s s ur e
r ange wi t h b e t t e r accur acy t han wi t h Eq. 3.38 ( see Fig. 5). A va r i a bl e pl as t i c a ni s ot r opy
can be de s c r i be d wi t h a f abr i c t e ns or a nd a s ubs t i t ut e st r ess in a c c or da nc e wi t h Eq. 3.22.
The flow c ondi t i on t he r e f or e l oses t he s y mme t r y p r o v i d e d i n Figs. 18 a nd 20. An evol u-
t i on e qua t i on f or a has t o be a dde d, whi ch can be Eq. 3.23 wi t h an a ddi t i ona l pr e s s ur e -
d e p e n d e n t t e r m [19]. Some e x p e r i me n t a l obs e r va t i ons - e. g., t he b e h a v i o u r unde r cyl i n-
dr i cal l y s ymme t r i c s hor t e ni ng af t er s t r et chi ng or vi ce ver s a - can t hus be b e t t e r mode l l e d,
but t he i ni t i al a nd a s ympt ot i c val ues of a ar e not cl ear . The d e t e r mi n a t i o n of t he a ddi t i ona l
cons t i t ut i ve p a r a me t e r s is c u mb e r s o me a nd de ba t a bl e .
246 Gerd Gudehus
3. 2. 2 Ex t e n s i o n s and s e l e c t i o n cri t eri a
To mo d e l t he o b s e r v e d b e h a v i o u r mo r e pr eci sel y, di f f er ent ext ens i ons have be e n p r o p o s e d
(Fi g. 21). Pl ast i c c ompr e s s i on and di l a t i on can be b e t t e r r e p r e s e n t e d by t wo fl ow cur ves or
surfaces. The pl as t i c s hor t e ni ng r a t e s a r e s u p e r i mp o s e d in t he ver t ex or r i m and mus t not
gi ve vol ume changes, as t he cr i t i cal s t at e t hen has t o pr evai l . A j u mp of t he di f f er ent i al
st i f f ness ma t r i x is i nevi t abl e. I n s t e a d of t he fl ow r ul e Eq. 3.37, r e l a t e d t o t he fl ow condi t i on
F = 0, in t he r a nge of di l a t i on
Og
Dp = 2 - - (3.39)
OTs
is us ed wi t h a pl as t i c pot e nt i a l g de vi a t i ng f r om F ( b) . The di f f er ent i al st i f f ness ma t r i x
t he n be c ome s n o n - s y mme t r i c a nd can no mo r e be uni quel y i nve r t e d [22].
Wi t h an a ddi t i ona l fl ow r ul e one t r i es t o cover t he obs e r va t i on t hat pl as t i c de f or ma t i ons
occur even t hough t he i ni t i al fl ow c ondi t i on is not sat i sf i ed (Fi g. 21c). A f abr i c t e ns or
c ha r a c t e r i s i ng t he a ni s ot r opy is r e qui r e d, whi ch is mos t l y r e l a t e d t o st r ess by Eq. 3.22.
The e vol ut i on l aw f or a has t o be f or mul a t e d, so t hat agai n t he i ni t i al fl ow condi t i on is
o b t a i n e d f or a suf f i ci ent l y l ar ge de f or ma t i on. Mo r e c ompl i c a t e d changes of t he el ast i c
r a nge f or r e p e a t e d pa t h r ever s al s a r e c ove r e d by s ever al ne s t e d fl ow sur f aces (d). The
st r ess at t he l ast pa t h r ever s al is of t en us ed as an a ddi t i ona l st at e var i abl e. The a ddi t i ona l
f l ow sur f aces ar e of t en a s s ume d as ge ome t r i c a l l y s i mi l ar t o each o t h e r a nd t o t he i ni t i al
one t o avoi d cr ossi ngs [10]. Co r r e s p o n d i n g f i gur es a r e o b t a i n e d f or t he de vi a t or pl ane and
f or t ens or i al ge ne r a l i z a t i on one has t o wor k wi t h i nvar i ant s.
Psl-Ps2
Pe
~
o
Ps/pe
Psl-Ps2
Pe
a b
Fc=O
Ps/Pe
Ps 1 "Ps2
Pe
Fc-=O
F~~O / PiPe
c d
Psl-Ps2
Pe
Fo=0
~ Fc=O
Ps/Pe
Fig. 21. Extended flow conditions and flow rules for cylindrically symmetric deformation:
a) with vertex, b) not associated, c) sequence of cycles
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 247
I nst ead of a mor e det ai l ed expl anat i on s ome selection criteria are gi ven her e whi ch are of
use also f or ot her const i t ut i ve laws. Firstly, t he const i t ut i ve law must be gi ven explicitly and
by t r act abl e equat i ons. Secondl y, it must be obj ect i ve, i. e. i ndependent of t he r ef er ence
syst em ( t her ef or e t ensori al ) and of units ( t her ef or e onl y mat er i al - dependent r ef er ence
values). A uni que and r obust pr ocedur e f or det er mi ni ng t he mat er i al par amet er s f r om
t est resul t s is also i ndi spensabl e. Uni f or m mat er i al par amet er s are desi rabl e f or a wi de
r ange of st at es and wher ever possi bl e cor r el at i ons wi t h gr anul omet r i c propert i es.
Numer i cal el ement tests ar e of use f or f ur t her checki ng. For sel ect ed test pat hs of stress,
def or mat i on or a combi nat i on of bot h, one cal cul at es t he pat h r es pons e f or def or ma-
tion, stress or a combi nat i on of bot h wi t h a const i t ut i ve law. As l ong as t he grai ns are
gr anul omet r i cal l y pe r ma ne nt t he as ympt ot es shown in Fig. 5 must be achi eved wi t h t he
associ at ed paths. For def or mat i ons wi t h vol ume i ncrease or cons t ant voi d ratio, if this
exceeds eco f or monot onous pat hs or edO f or cyclic ones, t he grai n pr essur e will di sappear
(ps --~ 0) and tensile grai n stresses must not arise. It shoul d be not ed her e t hat t he plastic
def or mat i on is not a physi cal st at e vari abl e. For stress cycl es not l eadi ng t o limit st at es
(i. e. t he det er mi nant of t he di fferent i al stiffness mat ri x does not di sappear ) a st abi l i zat i on
must occur so t hat t he stiffness i ncreases f r om cycle t o cycl e (Fig. 9). This st abi l i zat i on
ends when r eachi ng t he smal l est voi d rat i o ed associ at ed wi t h Ps: Wi t h each f ur t her cycle
t he same plastic def or mat i on is added (this is not achi eved wi t h mos t of t he el ast opl ast i c
const i t ut i ve laws).
I nvest i gat i ons of t he di fferent i al stiffness mat ri x are numer i cal l y and physi cal l y reveal i ng.
The di sappear ance of t he det er mi nant i ndi cat es t he loss of invertibility, whi ch pl ays a
rol e in several numer i cal met hods (such st at ement s on soil el ement s say little on st abi l i t y
and t he uni queness of ear t h body di spl acement s, however ) . Re s pons e pol ar s are al so
reveal i ng (Fig. 22). Wi t h one flow surface and t he associ at ed flow rul e t hese consi st of
t wo concent r i c ellipse sect i ons f or t he case of pl ast i fi cat i on (a). Wi t h a non- associ at ed
flow rul e t he ellipse sect i on r el at ed t o pl ast i fi cat i on does not have its cent r e in t he stress
r ef er ence poi nt a nymor e (b). Gi ven elastic behavi our due t o sufficient har deni ng, t he
r esponse pol ar is an ellipse wi t h t he cent r e in t he r ef er ence poi nt ( not in t he figure). The
j ump of t he di fferent i al stiffness mat ri x f or t he el ast i c-pl ast i c t r ansi t i on appear s as a shar p
bend in t he r esponse pol ar. This can di sappear in t he case of t wo nest i ng flow surfaces (c),
whi ch appear s t o be cl oser t o real i t y and is numer i cal l y advant ageous. Pl ast i c har deni ng
or sof t eni ng due onl y t o a change of voi d r at i o can be r epr es ent ed by nor mal i zat i on of
t he grai n pr essur es wi t h Pe ( not in t he figure). Fami l i es of r es pons e pol ar s are obt ai ned
f or each r ef er ence poi nt wi t h i nt ernal variables, dependi ng on t hei r values.
Ps I -Ps2
Pe
SI -S 2
~ $1+2S2
a
I L
Psl+2ps2
Pe
Fig. 22. Response polars of elastoplastic consti-
tutive laws with (a) and without (b) associated
flow rule and with nested flow surfaces (c)
248 Gerd Gudehus
3. 2. 3 Vi scopl asti ci ty
As anel ast i c grai n def or mat i ons rel y on t her mal act i vat i on, plastic soil def or mat i ons are
act ual l y al ways viscoplastic. Wi t h an i ncr ease in t he val ue Dp = II Dp [I t he pl ast i c def or ma-
t i on resi st ance arises (Fig. 23). For an i ncrease or decr ease of Dp c ompa r e d t o a r ef er ence
val ue Dr t he flow limit is wi dened or na r r owe d affi nousl y (a). For cons t ant stress di rect i on
"i's, t he plastic def or mat i on di r ect i on I ) p is i ndependent of Dp because of t he flow rul e and
in a critical st at e ~i's is i nde pe nde nt of Dp. T h e pr essur e- voi d- r at i o- l i nes f or i sot r opi c first
densi fi cat i on are affi nous f or di f f er ent Dp ( b ) . I f t he r ef er ence pr essur e Psr f r om Eq. 3.36
is r epl aced by
psv = Psr 1 + Iv In ~ ' r ~ Psr(DpDr) I~ (3.40)
t he cur ves coi nci de. For ver y small Dp t he power law is bet t er. The equi val ent pressure
Pe depends al so o n Dp.
For a st at i onar y plastic flow (critical st at e) Eqs. 2.30 and 3.13 hol d. The compr es s i on cr eep
wi t h cons t ant stress di r ect i on t hen fol l ows f r om Eq. 3.16. Cr eep- r el axat i on is t her ef or e also
cover ed. Vari ant s of vi scopl ast i c const i t ut i ve laws are obt ai ned by di f f er ent appr oaches
f or pressure-voi d-rat i o-l i nes, flow cur ves and flow rules. The elastic por t i on is i ndependent
of t he def or mat i on rate.
O,=
lO
Dr
I
I
Pe in~pS e )
a b
F i g . 2 3 . Simple f l ow condi t i on (a) and i sot ropi c compression (b) f or di f f er ent rates of def ormat i on
Ps 1 -Ps2 ' ~
p ~ ~ ~ - - - " - " ~ / D P =
10 D r
Dr
0"ID Dr
PJPo
3. 3 Hy p o p l a s t i c i t y
3. 3. 1 Wi t hout i nternal variables
Const i t ut i ve laws of t he rat e t ype such as
"rs = H( Ts, D) (3.41)
wi t h an obj ect i ve stress r at e "i~s ar e most l y i nvari ant agai nst t i me st ret chi ng (i. e. H( 2D) =
2H( D) f or 2 > 0) and ar e t her ef or e cal l ed r at e- i ndependent . I f t he stress r at e depends
l i nearl y on t he st r et chi ng r at e (i. e. H( D] + D2) = H( DI ) + H( D2) f or ar bi t r ar y D1
und D2), t hey ar e cal l ed hypoel ast i c. As anel ast i c behavi our can t hus not be descri bed,
di f f er ent ps eudo- hypoel as t i c const i t ut i ve laws have been pr opos ed f or whi ch, dependi ng
on t he di r ect i on sect or bet ween Ts and D (e. g. char act er i zed by t he sign of t r ( TsD) ) , H
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 249
is r e p r e s e n t e d by di f f er ent f unct i ons. Such r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of H have t u r n e d out t o be of
l i t t l e use si nce I t has j umps at t he t r ans i t i ons b e t we e n t he di r ect i on s ect or s [7]. I t was l at er
f ound t hat t he d i f f e r e n t i a l s t i f f n e s s m a t r i x
. M = O H / O D (3. 42)
s houl d not have j u mp s at changes of di r e c t i ons and al so s houl d not have a ne ga t i ve det er -
mi nant . Thi s me a ns t hat t he r e s pons e pol a r s houl d be s moot h and convex. Co mp a r a t i v e
i nves t i gat i ons s howed t hat t hes e r e qui r e me nt s can be sat i sf i ed by t he r e p r e s e n t a t i o n
H : = L( Ts, D) + N( Ts) II D II (3. 43)
whe r e L d e p e n d s l i near l y on D. The r e s pons e p o l a r is t hen an el l i pse, t he c e nt r e of whi ch,
agai ns t t he s t r e s s - r e f e r e nc e - poi nt , is shi f t ed a c c or di ng t o t he s e c ond t er m. By pos i t i ve
h o mo g e n i t y of H wi t h r e s pe c t t o Ts (i. e. H( 2Ts) = 2mH( Ts) wi t h 2 > 0 a nd m > 0) t he
obs e r va t i on shows t hat t he st r ess di r e c t i on coi nci des a s ympt ot i c a l l y wi t h t he di r e c t i on of
t he st r ess r a t e unde r p r o p o r t i o n a l c ompr e s s i on. St at i c l i mi t s t at es a r e c ha r a c t e r i z e d by
di s a ppe a r i ng H f or cer t ai n val ues of Ts und D. Cons t i t ut i ve l aws of t hi s ki nd ar e cal l ed
h y p o p l a s t i c as t hey de s c r i be t he pl as t i c b e h a v i o u r of s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons wi t hout t he
f or mul i s m of el as t opl as t i ci t y [14].
The cons t i t ut i ve l aw be c ome s mo r e r eal i s t i c i f H al so d e p e n d s on t he voi d r a t i o e whi ch
changes wi t h t he e qua t i on
b = (1 + e ) t r D (3. 44)
wi t h t he s t r et chi ng r at e in t he case of gr ai ns wi t h c ons t a nt vol ume. To achi eve this, Eq. 3.43
is e x t e n d e d by f act or s de pe ndi ng on e and Ps = - t r Ts / 3 [8] i nt o
t ,
= y , + f d ( t s II O l l ] ( 3 . 4 5 )
Sui t abl e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s f or t hes e f unct i ons d e p e n d i n g on t he st r ess di r e c t i on ~i's a r e
f~ = h2D + 1"s tr(1"sD) (3. 46)
a nd
lq = fi(1"s + ~i'*) (3.47)
wi t h a f act or h d e p e n d i n g on t he cr i t i cal f r i ct i on angl e q~c and t he i nva r i a nt cos 3s [2, 29].
For a s t a t i ona r y l t ow ( cr i t i cal s t at e) f a = 1, k = 0 and 1"s = 0. For c ons t a nt s t r et chi ng
r at es D = Dc wi t hout vol ume change ( t r Dc = 0), c e r t a i n st r ess di r e c t i ons 4fsc a r e t hen
o b t a i n e d f r om Eq. 3.45. The pr i nci pal c o mp o n e n t s ar e r e p r e s e n t e d i n a d e v i a t o r pl a ne
a nd can be i n t e r p r e t e d as a pl ast i c fl ow c ondi t i on and fl ow r ul e whi ch ar e d e t e r mi n e d by
t he f unct i on fi(q~c, cos 3 0 0 .
f a i n Eq. 3.45 is e xpr e s s e d by
f a = (1 - I a ) '~ (3. 48)
whe r e c~ is a ma t e r i a l c ons t a nt in t he r ange 0. 1< a <0. 4, and l a is t he de ns i t y i ndex gi ven
by Eq. 2.20. For c ons t a nt me a n pr e s s ur e (/Ss = 0) and e < ec one obt a i ns f r om Eq. 3.45
t he di l at ancy r at i o
t r I ) / ~ r t r 6 2 = - t r 1 " s [ t r ( i ' s l ) ) + f a f i ] / h 2 (3. 49)
250 Gerd Gudehus
wi t h t he di r ect i on I ) = D/ II D II of t he st ret chi ng rate. I t is, in accor dance wi t h Fig. 18,
bi gger, t he smal l er f a is (i. e. t he bi gger Id) and t he bi gger t he di r ect i onal di fference
bet ween Ts and D (i. e. t he bi gger t r ( TsD) ) is. I t is at its maxi mum val ue f or peak st at es
defi ned by 2"s = 0, whi ch lie out si de t he cones f or critical st at es in t he space of stress
component s . These can be expr essed by Eq. 2.31, wi t h a fri ct i on angl e Cpp > cpc dependi ng
on e and ps (or, nei t her needed nor physi cal l y justified, by t he convent i onal shear st r engt h
r el at i onshi p wi t h c;' and c' dependi ng on e and Ps). (C;p = 90 f or f d ---- 0 cannot be achi eved
by shor t eni ng, as e i ncreases wi t h a t ransi t i on f r om an i sot r opi c st at e wi t h e = ed, t o a peak.
A uni axi al stress st at e wi t h q~p = 90 and e _< ed can be r eached, however , by compr essi on
and decompr es s i on of a ver y dense grai n skel et on, but t he dr y mas onr y exampl e gi ven
does not t hen behave like a si mpl e grai n skel et on any mor e. )
The di l at ancy r at i o becomes negat i ve ( cont r act ancy) wi t h i ncreasi ng val ues if f d is l arger
(i. e. t he l ooser t he gr ai n skel et on is) and f or smal l er devi at i ons of t he di rect i ons of Ts
und D. Cont r act ancy exceeds di l at ancy as l ong as e > ed holds, t her ef or e e t ends t o ed f or
r e pe a t e d r ever sal of di r ect i on wi t h ,bs = 0. (The cont r act ancy behavi our whi ch has t hus
be e n obs er ved [5] is anelastic, t her ef or e an elastic r ange as in Fig. 18 cannot exist.)
The f act or f s in Eq. 3.45 is
( ei ] s ; i ( 3 . 5 0 )
f S = \ e
whe r e ei f r om Eq. 2.16 depends on ps, [3 is a cons t ant in t he r ange 1 _< ~ _< 1.5, and f,*
depends on t he T~-i nvari ant s, so t hat t he r esponse pol ar s depend on t he di r ect i on Ts* in
t he obs er ved manner . The f act or fb is obt ai ned f r om t he compar i s on of Eqs. 2.16 and 3.45
f or i sot r opi c compr es s i on as
fb -- hs l e ~ - \ ~-s j(3ps~l-n [ 3Zt2 + 1--x/3Cto(ei~edo~]-lkeco -- edO/ J (3.51)
wher e h0 is t he h f or Ts = - p s l . Wi t h equat i ons f or h and fs*, ( not gi ven her e f or l ack
of space) t he hypopl ast i c const i t ut i ve law is t hen compl et e. Toget her wi t h Eq. 3.44, it
descri bes t he changes of st at e of si mpl e gr ai n skel et ons f r om r ear r angement s realistically
in a wi de r ange of states. This is par t i cul ar l y t r ue f or t he asympt ot i c st at es expl ai ned wi t h
Fig. 5, whi ch are t her ef or e cal l ed at t ract ors. Gr anul omet r i c pe r ma ne nc e is i nduced i.e.
abr as i on and f r agment at i on, as well as aggl omer at i on and decay of grai ns is excl uded.
The mat er i al const ant s ar e obt ai ned f r om el ement tests and can be est i mat ed based on
gr anul omet r i c pr oper t i es [11]: q fol l ows f r om a shear or triaxal test and is near l y t he sl ope
angl e at l oose packi ng ( under wat er f or soils wi t h ver y fine grai ns), hs and n ar e given by a
compr es s i on t est wi t h hi gh initial voi d r at i o and can be est i mat ed with t he grai n har dness
and shape, eco and ea0 are obt ai ned f r om ext r apol at i on of t est resul t s t owar ds ps = 0 and
can be est i mat ed f r om t he grai n size di st r i but i on and grai n shape, c~ fol l ows f r om q~p and
can be est i mat ed f r om t he grai n propert i es, eio and [3 come f r om compr es s i on tests, but
f or ma ny appl i cat i ons t he est i mat es eio/eco = 1.2 and [3 = 1.2 suffice.
3. 3. 2 Wi t h i nternal vari abl e
Hypopl as t i c const i t ut i ve laws cover changes of st at e due t o r ear r angement s and have
al r eady been val i dat ed f or many appl i cat i ons. They can al so suffice f or alternating paths,
char act er i zed by st r ong changes of di rect i ons, if t he def or mat i on in each monot onous pat h
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 251
Psl
1
$I
~3

Ps2 ~ S2
Fig. 24. Evolution of stress (a), shape (b) and intergranular strain (c)
f \
4
sect i on exceeds about 10 4 f or coar se up t o 10 2 f or fi ne-grai ned soils. Ot her wi se an unr e-
alistic i ncr ease of def or mat i on with t he numbe r of reversal s is obt ai ned f or stress cycles,
or an unreal i st i c change of grai n pr essur e f or def or mat i on cycles. The basi c as s umpt i on of
hypopl ast i ci t y, t hat t he st at e of a si mpl e grai n skel et on is sufficiently descr i bed by its stress
t ensor and voi d ratio, is appar ent l y insufficient f or such cases. The bi gger di fferent i al stiff-
ness f or small def or mat i ons aft er subst ant i al changes of pat h di rect i on, can be expl ai ned
by t he fact t hat t he cont act shapes and f or ces can change al most wi t hout r ear r angement s
of t he gr ai n skel et on. An addi t i onal i nt er nal st at e var i abl e is needed t her ef or e, whi ch
shoul d be a second or der t ensor.
The ext ensi on of hypopl ast i ci t y by an i nt ergranul ar st rai n t ens or ~ has been val i dat ed
in di f f er ent appl i cat i ons wi t h al t er nat i ng pat hs and small sect i on ampl i t udes [21]. The
mai n i deas can be shown by t wo component s , al t hough this is sufficient onl y f or speci al
cases such as axial s ymmet r y (Fig. 24). At t he begi nni ng (0) t he grai n pr essur e ma y be
small and near l y i sot r opi c (a) and t he i nt er gr anul ar st rai n ma y be ar bi t r ar y except f or
t he l i mi t at i on of its size (c). St at e 1 is pr oduc e d by pr opor t i onal compr es s i on (b), wher e
grai n pr essur e and i nt er gr anul ar st rai n have been adapt ed t o each ot her as far as possible.
Un d e r f ur t her def or mat i on in this di r ect i on t he por t i onal st ress pat h woul d be cont i nued
and t he i nt er gr anul ar st rai n woul d r emai n cons t ant wi t h r espect t o size and di r ect i on
(82 + 62 = R and 6~/~12 ~-= const ), so t hat this is not explicitly requi red. St at e 2 is r eached
by a new, near l y pr opor t i onal def or mat i on wi t h near l y r ever s ed di rect i on, wher e 81 and
6z are agai n maxi mal l y adapt ed t o t he grai n pr essur e and t her ef or e ar e not r equi r ed
explicitly. Wi t h a new di r ect i on of def or mat i on (3), 61 can change its sign, whi ch initially
has a st r ong i nfl uence on t he di fferent i al stiffness. The st ress pat h sect i on is rel at i vel y
~ + 82 does not change. I f t he de f or ma t i on pat h is cont i nued al most
short , t he a mount
t r ansver sel y t o t he pr evi ous cour se (e), ps i , ps2, (51 and 62 unde r go st r onger changes again.
v "
For mat hemat i cal r epr es ent at i on it is useful t o di f f er ent i at e bet ween near l y equal and
opposi t e di rect i ons of i nt er gr anul ar st rai n and st r et chi ng rat e, or mor e preci sel y bet ween
81D1 + 282D2 > 0 (3.52)
and < 0. I n t he first case 61 and 62 will be devel oped f r om t he equat i on
8i = Di - 61D1 4-282D2 6 i (i = 1, 2) (3.53)
~ / ( 8 1 D1 )2 + 2(62d2)2
252 Gerd Gudehus
I n t he s econd case r e a r r a nge me nt s ar e excl uded, so t hat 6i = Di holds, i. e. t he def or mat i on
is onl y i nt er gr anul er t hen. The r el evant di fferent i al const i t ut i ve law r eads
- - Ps i ( : J'si) : Mi j Dj
(3.54)
The di fferent i al stiffness mat r i x Mij f or full def or mat i on pat h reversal or mor e preci sel y
f or Di ~ - 6i , is gi ven by
Mi j = mRLi j (3.55)
wi t h a cons t ant mR and t he first t er m of t he hypopl ast i c const i t ut i ve law, whi ch is l i near in
D, gi ven her e in t wo component s . I f t he di r ect i on of D is exact l y t ransversal t o t he di rect i on
of ~ (i. e. t r ( bD) = 0) Eq. 3.55 st ands wi t h a cons t ant mr < mR i nst ead of mR. For a l arge
mo n o t o n o u s def or mat i on i nst ead, D and 8 have t he same di r ect i on and ti r emai ns const ant
in accor dance wi t h Eq. 3.53 wi t h t he maxi mal val ue of R. The hypopl ast i c const i t ut i ve
law t hen hol ds wi t hout i nt er gr anul ar strain, as this is al r eady det er mi ned by Ts and e.
For ot her di f f er ences of di r ect i ons of ~ and D, Mij is s moot hl y i nt er pol at ed bet ween
t he na me d speci al cases. Tensori al equat i ons ar e gi ven f or t he f our t h or der di fferent i al
stiffness mat r i x defi ned by
1"s = .AAD
(3.56)
so t hat t he evol ut i on equat i ons f or Ts, e and ~ ar e objective.
At least t wo mat er i al const ant s ar e r equi r ed f or appl i cat i ons: The l argest possi bl e val ue
R of ~ and t he f act or mR in Eq. 3.55. R is about t en t i mes t he size of t he elastic r ange
expr essed by st rai n and lies bet ween about ] 0 - 6 f or coar se- and about 10 - 3 f or fine-
gr ai ned soils. The r at i o mr ~mR and t wo auxi l i ary quant i t i es r equi r ed f or i nt er pol at i on
are vi rt ual l y i ndependent of gr anul omet r i c propert i es. This const i t ut i ve law has been
checked by numer i cal el ement tests and r esponse polars. The ext r eme val ues of gr ai n
pr essur e and voi d ratio, whi ch can be r eached by monot onous def or mat i ons, are t he same
as wi t hout explicit i nt er gr anul ar strain, t he l at t er has a l i mi t ed value. Wi t h stress cycles
accompani ed by sect i on-wi se small def or mat i ons, e t ends t o ed sl ower t han wi t hout / i
and aft er it is r eached t he def or mat i on i ncreases wi t h each cycle by t he same ver y small
amount . Ther e is no exact elastic r ange t her ef or e, but it may of t en be pract i cal l y assumed
as a good appr oxi mat i on. For def or mat i on cycles with a small ampl i t ude, ps t ends t o 0
f or e > edo sl ower t han wi t hout ~ ( decay f or full sat ur at i on wi t hout drai nage). Ot her wi se
asympt ot i c stress cycles wi t h (small) hyst eresi s ar e obt ai ned.
The cont i nui t y of t he di fferent i al stiffness mat ri x A4 is of advant age f or t he numer i cal
appl i cat i on t o vi br at i on pr obl ems. For any st at e char act er i zed by Ts, e and & t he grai n
skel et on may have di f f er ent val ues of A/t, dependi ng on t he sign of t r(~D), but t he r equi r ed
i t er at i on conver ges rapidly. As t he initial field of ~ is most l y unknown, it has t o be cal cu-
l at ed wi t h t he aid of an earl i er fictitious monot onous def or mat i on. Af t er a few changes
of pat h di rect i on, due t o al t er nat i ng bounda r y condi t i ons, ~ t akes val ues i ndependent l y
of t he start; in ot her wor ds t he fabri c descr i bed by ~ is rapi dl y adapt ed in t he case of
al t er nat i ng paths. The stiffness obt ai ned with A4 is also physi cal l y bet t er justified t han t he
di scont i nui t y in Eq. 3.45, due t o t he t er m wi t h I I D I] f or D --+ 0.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 253
3.3.3 Visco-hypoplasticity
The rate dependence of anelastic changes of state due of thermal activation can be built
into the hypoplastic constitutive law by means of a granulate hardness, depending on the
amount of the stretching rate D =ll D II as
E
hsv = hsr 1 + Iv In (3.57)
[8]. Limit void ratios depending on D as shown in Fig. 23b are thus obtained. The stress
direction is independent of D in critical states, whereas the void ratio ec decreases with
D, which is obtained by inserting of hsv instead of hs into Eq. 2.16. For proportional
compression with constant grain pressure a pore pressure reduction is obtained by using
Eq. 3.16 if e and k have suitable initial values. Transitions between these simple special
cases can also be covered by Eq. 3.57 as long as D is not extremely large or small and the
paths with small deformation amplitudes are excluded.
4 Fur t he r c o ns t i t ut i v e l aws
4.1 Physico-chemical and granulometric changes
One can presume equilibrium transitions if the transition time is smaller than the relax-
ation time by orders of magnitude [13]. This holds true for gas bubbles in the void space
for geotechnical cases, but not for changes of the dissolved gas fraction in the case of
vibrations if the diffusion time is larger than the vibration period. Changes of the ion con-
centration within the diffuse double layers of the solid particles and associated changes
of the osmotic pressure, can be considered as equilibrium transitions only for quasistatic
cases. The increase or decrease of the solid fraction by condensation or solution in the
pore fluid can be covered by equations of state. Thermally induced volume changes can
also be considered as equilibrium transitions as long as phase transitions do not occur.
Thermal activation must be assumed if encounter and relaxation times do not differ from
each other by more than some orders of magnitude. As both times can only just be
estimated for soils, only crude empirical rules can be given. The diffusion of pore water
and substances dissolved in it can at most be described by linear methods (i. e. in Eq. 2.33
Em < < kT holds so that 2sinhyp drops out). Therefore chemical and biological reactions
in the pore space can also be covered by linear kinetics [1]. The activation energies of
the diffuse ion layers of the solid particles are so big however, that geotechnically caused
changes to them require nonlinear viscosity laws. This holds more for the solid particles,
so that their thermal activation is better covered by Eq. 2.36. The behaviour lies then
between that of fluids and of solids.
If the relaxation times exceed the encounter times by several orders of magnitude, changes
of grains and grain skeleton arise rather from mechanical activation. Plastic changes of
grain shapes are often not granulometrically recognizable, so that changes of state of
grain skeletons can be described with elastoplasticity or hypoplasticity with (often tacitly
assumed) granulometric permanence. At present the brittle fracture of grains leading to
abrasion and fragmentation can at best be allowed for by assuming a gradual change of
material parameters correlated with granulometric properties. The brittle fracture of solid
grain bridges (cementation) is currently only heuristically allowed for capillary bridges.
254 Gerd Gudehus
For the change of l umps (pseudo-grai ns) constitutive laws are not yet available. Physico-
chemical effects are rel evant for clay particles differently composed of platelets, which
is as yet widely unclarified. Lumps and ot her aggregat es of many solid particles may be
i magi ned as grain skel et ons kept t oget her by suction. A fabric of such particles may be
consi dered as an elastoplastic or hypopl ast i c composi t e with hollows, but this can only
l ead to crude est i mat es because of the large geomet ri cal variety.
4.2 Transport laws
The t r anspor t of por e fluid and dissolved substances is based on t h e r ma l a c t i v a t i o n . There-
fore the objectively general i zed Darcy law
n w ( b w - bs) = k V ( P w - - YwZ) (4.1)
with the specific weight Yw of water, height z and the permeabi l i t y
k = ckds 2yw/ q (4.2)
with a const ant ck and a mean di amet er ds contains the viscosity
r l ~ exp - (4.3)
f r om Eq. 2.33 with the mol ecul ar distance a. Similarly, in the diffusion law
qc - b w = DV c c (4.4)
with the vol ume flux qc relative to the por e wat er due to the gradi ent of concent rat i on co,
the diffusion const ant [1] is
D = k T / ( 6 ~ a ~ l ) (4.5)
Anal ogous expressions hold for the ion t r anspor t due to electrical pot ent i al gradients and
for coupling bet ween hydraulic and el ect rophoret i c transport. The non-l i near permeabi l -
ity of soils composed of very fine grains can be expl ai ned with the far higher viscosity of
t he diffused ion layers, which reduces for high hydraulic gradients as Ea reduces by a kind
of stripping [30].
Ther e are onl y heuristic-empirical appr oaches for the me c h a n i c a l l y a c t i v a t e d t ransport of
grains in the por e space. For hydraulic activation of solid particles, i. e. for i nner erosion,
one can calculate the drag force f r om the hydraulic gradient, but the resistance from grain
contacts can only be geomet ri cal l y est i mat ed (filter rules). The seepage-i nduced t ransport
of a clay mat ri x into a skel et on of coarse grains can be est i mat ed somewhat bet t er [31].
For the granul omet ri c mixing and unmixing, i. e. the mechanical dispersion of grains rela-
tive to each ot her due to shearing, vi brat i on or seepage flow, t here are as yet onl y heuristic
approaches. Onl y for very large vi brat i ons and correspondi ngl y loosening, a t hermody-
nami c anal ogy with granul ar t emper at ur e and ent r opy is physically justifiable.
4.3 Granular interfaces
The pol ar quantities and the higher fluctuations in s h e a r b a n d s need not be followed up
in detail for most geotechnical applications. For a shear band at a wall with a roughness
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 255
, , , ~ / P s n t a n o ) w
-1
-1
~/Osntano) w
/ U
F i g . 25. Diagrams of shear bands for
constant pressure following an elasto-
plastic (a) or hypoplastic approach (b)
a b
de pt h be l ow t he gr ai n size, of t en t he a p p r o x i ma t i o n
I~n r = Ps n tan q~w (4. 6)
suffi ces wi t h t he gr ai n pr e s s ur e p s n i n t he n o r ma l di r e c t i on, t he s he a r st r ess xn o p p o s i t e
t o t he sl i di ng di r e c t i on and a wal l f r i ct i on angl e q~w. For r ough wal l s c o mp a r e d wi t h t he
gr ai n si ze Eq. 4.6 wi t h cpw = q~c does not suffice: Th e r e is no wal l sl i p, q~w is not c ons t a nt
a nd changes of t he s he a r ba nd t hi cknes s h f can i mpl y s ubs t ant i al changes of Ps n i f t he
f or me r ar e p r e v e n t e d by t he s ur r oundi ngs . I f Ps n is a s s ume d c ons t a nt t he s he a r st r ess r at e
in can be l i nke d wi t h t he sl i di ng vel oci t y ~i by t h e a p p r o x i ma t i o n (Fi g. 25a)
~ n / P s n = K t {t (l'tn I < Ps n tan cpw) (4. 7)
= 0 (1~1 = psntancpw)
K t is a t r ans ver s al s ubgr a de modul us whi ch can be d e t e r mi n e d f r om s he a r t est s. Al t e r n a -
t i vel y one can use t he hypopl a s t i c a p p r o x i ma t i o n
i n = K t ( t i Ps n tanXn cfm l u l ) (4.8)
so t hat t r ans i t i ons a r e s moot h except f or r e ve r s a l (Fi g. 25b) .
Changes of pr e s s ur e a nd t hi cknes s of t he s he a r ba nd c a nnot be a l l owe d f or wi t h a na l o-
gous s ubgr a de me t h o d s even i f t he s ubgr a de modul us d e p e n d s on pr e s s ur e a nd densi t y.
I nve s t i ga t i ons wi t h pol a r ext ens i ons of cons t i t ut i ve l aws s how t hat t he t hi cknes s h f of a
s he a r ba nd d e p e n d s on t he dens i t y i ndex, def i ned by Eq. 2.20 and s hown i n Fig. 26. For
t he dens es t pa c ki ng t he s hear ba nd is a bout five t i mes as t hi ck as t he me a n gr ai n size.
I n t he cr i t i cal s t at e i t can be as t hi ck as t he e a r t h body. Changes of gr ai n st r ess at t he
h F '
1 0
Io
Fig. 26. Reduction of shear band thickness with density index
256 Gerd Gudehus
r i m of a s he a r ba nd due t o i t s di s pl a c e me nt r e l a t i ve t o t he wal l , ar e suf f i ci ent l y de s c r i be d
by as s umi ng a h o mo g e n e o u s s hear i ng wi t hout p o l a r effect . El a s t opl a s t i c or hypopl a s t i c
cons t i t ut i ve l aws can be us ed f or i t wi t h a d e n s i t y - d e p e n d e n t s he a r ba nd t hi ckness.
The s p o n t a n e o u s f o r ma t i o n of s he a r ba nds i n t he i nt e r i or of gr ai n s kel et ons is ba s e d on
t he l ocal i nc r e a s e of voi d r a t i o a nd pol a r st r esses, s t ar t i ng f r om f l uct uat i ons [9]. Thi s occur s
in t he vi ci ni t y of pe a k st at es, i. e. i f t he st r ess r a t i o is "tn/Ps n > q~c, i f t he de ns i t y i ndex is
Id < 1 a nd i f di l a t a nc y is gi ven. The or i e nt a t i on of t he s hear ba nd n o r ma l t o t he di r ect i on
of t he bi gges t gr ai n pr e s s ur e is r oughl y 45 - Cpp/2 and is mo r e pr eci s el y o b t a i n e d f r om a
bi f ur c a t i on anal ysi s wi t h t he ai d of t he di f f e r e nt i a l st i f f ness mat r i x. The t hi cknes s is t wi ce
as bi g as by Fi g. 26, and in t he i nt e r i or one can agai n as s ume an a l t e r na t i ve h o mo g e n e o u s
s he a r i ng wi t hout pol a r effect s.
By cracki ng of s i mpl e gr ai n s ke l e t ons t he gr ai n pr e s s ur e vani s hes al ong a s ur f ace whi ch
ma y be gi ven as t he b o u n d a r y of a gr a nul a r r egi on or ar i se s pont a ne ous l y in t he i nt er i or .
Thi s ma y h a p p e n when p u mp i n g in a fl ui d so t hat t he por e pr e s s ur e i ncr eas es a nd t he
s e e pa ge f or ce dr i ves a pa r t t he gr ai n s ke l e t on hal ves at t he cr ack. A humi d gr ai n s ke l e t on
wi t h c ont i nuous gas channel s and t he r e f or e wi t h capi l l ar y gr ai n pr es s ur e, can cr ack by
e v a p o r a t i o n of t he por e wa t e r due t o r a pi d i nc r e a s e of unde r pr e s s ur e . A pos i t i ve f e e dba c k
whi ch is neces s ar y f or l ocal i zat i on occur s as t he pe r me a bi l i t y i ncr eas es wi t h wi deni ng. For
an anal ys i s of wi de ni ng t he vel oci t i es of wi de ni ng and fl ui d t r a ns por t have t o be al l owed
f or t her ef or e. The vani s hi ng of t he t ot a l pr e s s ur e of t en suffices as t he cr ack cr i t er i on.
5 Ref erences
[1] Atkins, P.W. (1994): Physical Chemistry, 5th Ed., Oxford Univ. Press.
[2] Bauer, E. (2000): Conditions for embedding Casagrande' s critical states into hypoplasticity.
Mech. Cohes.-Fric. Mat. 5, 125-148.
[3] Bruce, A., Wallace, D. (1989): Critical print phenomena: universal physics at large length scales.
In: The New Physics, Ed. P. Davies, Cambridge Univ. Press.
[4] Feynman, R.P, Leighton, R.B., Sands, M. (1995): The Feynman lectures on physics, Volume I,
Wiley, New York.
[5] Goldscheider, M. (1975):DilatanzverhaltenvonSandbeigeknicktenVerformungswegen. Mech.
Research Comm., 2, 143-148.
[6] Gudehus, G., Goldscheider, M., Winter, H. (1977): Mechanical properties of sand and clay. In:
Finite Elements in Geomechanics, Ed. G. Gudehus, Wiley, London etc.
[7] Gudehus, G. (1979): A comparison of some constitutive laws for soils under radially symmetric
loading and unloading. Proc. 3rd Int. Conf. Num. Meth. Geomech., Balkema, 1309-1323.
[8] Gudehus, G. (1996): A comprehensive constitutive equation for granular materials. Soils and
Found., 36.1, 1-12.
[9] Gudehus, G. (2000): Forced and spontaneous polarization in shear zones. Proc. 5th Int. Conf.
Localization and Bifurcation in Soils and Rocks, Balkema.
[10] Hashiguchi, K. (1995): A generalized formulation of the concept of nonhardening region; Int. J.
Plasticity, 11,347-365.
[11] Herle, L, Gudehus, G. (1999): Det ermi nat i onofparamet ersofhypopl ast i cmodel frompropert i es
of grain assemblies. Mech. Cohes.-Frict. Mater. 4, 461486.
[12] Israelachvili, J. (1994): Intermolecular and Surface Forces, Academic Press, London.
[13] Israelachvili, J.N. (1995): Surface Forces and Microrheology of Molecularly Thin Liquid Films.
Handbook of Macro/Nanotribology, CRC Press.
1.5 Constitutive laws for soils from a physical viewpoint 257
[14] Kolymbas, D. (2000): Int roduct i on to Hypoplasticity: Advances in Geot echni cal Engi neeri ng
and Tunnelling, No. 1, Balkema, Rot t erdam.
[15] Malvern, L (1977): Int roduct i on to the Mechanics of Cont i nuous Media. Prent i ce Hall, N.Y.
[16] Mitchell, J.K. (1976): Fundament al s of Soil Behaviour, Wiley, New York.
[17] Molenkamp, E (1988): A simple model for isotropic non-l i near elasticity for frictional materials.
Int. J. Num. Anal . Meth. Geomech. , 12,467--475.
[18] Mr6z, Z. (1967): On the Description of Anisotropic Workhardening. Journ. Mech. Phys. Solids,
15, 163-175.
[19] Murayama, S. (1985): Constitutive Laws of Soils. Japanese Soc. of Soil Mech. and Found. Engng.
[20] Nadai, A. (1963): Theory of Flow and Fracture of Solids. Mac-Graw Hill, New York.
[21] Niemunis, A., Herle, F. (1997): Hypoplastic model for cohesionless soils with elastic strain range.
Mech. Cohes.-Frict.Mat., 2, 279-299.
[22] Nova, R. (1992): Mathematical modelling of nat ural and engi neered geomaterials; Eur. J. Mech.
Solids, 11,135-154.
[23] Ossinov, V. (1998): Theoretical investigation ofl arge-ampl i t ude waves in granul ar soils. Soi l Dyn.
and Earthq. Engg., 17, 13-28.
[24] Persson, B.N.J. (1998): Sliding Friction, Physical Principles and Applications. Springer, Berlin.
[25] Poulos, H.G. (2000): Comput at i onal models of soil mechanics, Chapt er 1.0.6, Handbook of
Foundat on Engi neeri ng, Ernst & Sohn, Berlin.
[26] Richart, EE., Hall, J.R., Woods, R.D. (1970): Vibrations of Soils and Foundations. Prentice-Hall,
N.Y.
[27] Sukle, L. (1969): Rheological Aspects of Soil Mechanics. Wiley, London.
[28] Studer, J., Ziegler, A. (1986): Bodendynami k; Grundl agen, Kennzi ffern, Probleme. Springer,
Berlin.
[29] v. Wolffersdorff, P. (1996): A hypoplastic relation for granul ar materials with a predefined limit
state. Mech. Cohes.-Fric. Mat., 1,251-271.
[30] Zou, Y. (1996): A non-l i near permeabi l i t y rel at i on dependi ng on the activation energy of pore
fluid. G6otechnique, 46.4, 769-774.
[31] Zou, Y. (2000): Der vom Spannungszust and und dem BodengeRige abhfingige Erosionsdurch-
bruch bi ndi ger BOden. Die Wasserwirtschaft, November 2000.
I nt er net address hypoplasticity: http://wwwrz.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de/gn25/ibf/hypoplastizitfit/index.html