Technical Papers
May 8, 2024

Numerical Analysis of Strain Localization in Granular Soils by Modified Cam-Clay Model Based on Micropolar Continuum Theory

Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24, Issue 7

Abstract

To predict strain localization behaviors of granular soils, the modified Cam-Clay (MCC) model is incorporated into the second-order cone programming optimized micropolar continuum finite-element method (mpcFEM-SOCP). Based on a cylindrical cavity expansion problem, a biaxial compression problem, and a rigid strip footing problem, the numerical analyses reveal that the nonphysical strain localization behaviors including mesh-dependency of shear band, rumpling, or bifurcation can be alleviated or even removed if mpcFEM-SOCP is implemented appropriately. Furthermore, the internal characteristic length in mpcFEM-SOCP is a macroscopic physical parameter that characterizes the microscopic response of soil particles and is utilized to model the shear band width. A comparison between mpcFEM-SOCP and discrete element method (DEM) is performed, and the analysis results disclose that the internal characteristic length is closely related to the median particle size, and the evolution trend of the local void ratio in the specimen predicted by mpcFEM-SOCP agrees well with that by DEM. A larger shear dilatancy, however, is generally simulated by the latter. Finally, in the undrained analysis of the rigid footing problem, the evolution curves of excess pore-water pressure predicted by standard finite-element method and mpcFEM-SOCP may differ to some extent, as they enable the observations on the interesting evolution behaviors of excess pore-water pressure.

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Data Availability Statement

Some or all data, models, or codes that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge the funding support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52178309).

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Go to International Journal of Geomechanics
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 24Issue 7July 2024

History

Received: May 25, 2023
Accepted: Feb 1, 2024
Published online: May 8, 2024
Published in print: Jul 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 8, 2024

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Jian-bin Tang, S.M.ASCE [email protected]
Ph.D. Student, State Key Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Jiaotong Univ., Beijing 100044, China. Email: [email protected]
Professor, State Key Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong Univ., Beijing 100044, China (corresponding author). ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7104-1537. Email: [email protected]
Zong-qi Liu, S.M.ASCE [email protected]
Ph.D. Student, State Key Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Jiaotong Univ., Beijing 100044, China. Email: [email protected]
Ph.D. Student, State Key Laboratory of Urban Underground Engineering of Ministry of Education, Beijing Jiaotong Univ., Beijing 100044, China. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-4597-6070. Email: [email protected]

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