SOIL CONSTITUTIVE MODEL
1. Introduction
1.1 Constitutive matrix on elastic material
1.2. Elasticity
1.3 Yielding and Plasticity
1.4 Constitutive matrix on non elastic material
1.5 Mohr Coulomb criteria
1.6 Critical state line concept
2. Selection of Various soil constitutive model
2.1 Linear-Elastic model
2.2 Mohr-Coulomb model (MC)
2.3 Hardening Soil model (HS)
2.4 Cam clay model ( Cambridge clay model )
2.5 Modified Cam clay
2.6 Soft soil creep
2.7 Soft soil
2.8 Hyperbolic
2.9 Strain softening model
1. Introduction
B = Strain displacement matrix
C = Constitutive matrix
a = Column vector of nodal displacement
A = Area along the boundary of an element
v = Volume of an element
b = unit body force intensity
N = Row vector of interpolation function
p = Incremental surface pressure
Fn = Concentrated nodal incremental loads
The Constitutve matrix explain the soil behavior (stress-strain relationship, stress path
etc.) which covers in the soil model .
1.1Constitutive matrix on elastic material
1.2 Elasticity
Elastic, recoverable, material response is easier to describe and comprehend than plastic which
is irrecoverable response.
Stress
recoverable
Strain
Irrecoverable
Based on Hooke’s Law : E = ; The experimental introduction to elasticity is usually
restricted to observation of the load extensions. However, if micrometer is available to measure
the changing diameter of the rod, then one would observe that as the rod become longer, its
diameter become smaller, this is due to the properties of poisson’s ratio
Other properties of elasticity can be obtained using another test methods, such as triaxial
1.3 Yielding and Plasticity
Yielding of clay and sand soil should be separated due to different experimental procedures.
Yielding occurs when the stiffness of the soil falls rapidly and a slope suddenly change.
In general, the yield surface can be regarded as a generalized preconsolidation pressure.
1.3.1 Yielding and Yield Function
Suppose three samples 1,2 and 3 have been set up in triaxial and are in equilibrium under the
same cell pressure at A.
1. Sample 1 is subjected to isotropic compression by increasing the cell pressure and yield
point Y1 is observed where the stiffness changes markedly.
2. Sample 2 is subjected to one-D compression ( lateral strain = 0), Y2 is observed when the
stiffness changes sharply
3. Sample 3 is subjected to a CU test with pore pressure, Yielding Y3 is observed when the
stiffness changes sharply.
There are three methods to determine the yield point :
1. Mean effective stress (volumetric strain)
2. Deviator stress vs axial strain
3. Mean effective stress p’ vs work input per unit volume W
Yielding on clay
Yielding on sand
Sampling of clay can be taken from the ground with relatively minor disturbance to the
samples. Sampling on sands, unless it is strongly cemented, inevitably leads to serious
disturbance of the particle structure.
1.3.2 Plastic potential and Potential Function
Plastic volumetric strains and plastic hardening
Plastic volumetric strain has been associated with change in size of the yield locus from yl 1 to
yl 2
The total change of volume that occurs that stress state changes from K to L is given by
At constant mean stress p’, the
An illustration of the separation of volumetric strains into elastic and plastic components, PQ
PR and PS
PQ purely elastic, PR purely plastic and PS is a zero volume change (undrained test) consist of
both elastic and plastic changes in volume =0 , from this statement, the
implication is then that yielding can, and in general does occur in an undrained test, with elastic
and plastic contributions exactly balancing to give zero resultant of total volumetric strain.
Plastic shear strain
Description of plastic volumetric strains provides only a partial description of the plastic
deformation; it is necessary also to calculate the magnitude of any plastic shear strain that
may occur.
The analogy is described in the frictional block sliding on a frictional surface behaviour.
Qx = u P ; = u P ; f = Qx2 + Qy2 - u 2 P2 = 0
f<0;f=0;f>0
Vector of the components of sliding displacement is always normal to the circular sliding locus
in x and y plane.
The resulting load : deformation for the increasing Qy and the displacement in x direction. This
is the dependence of the components of irrecoverable deformation on the state of loading. A
second function g can be introduced, for real soil f g ; for simplification f = g
Plastic potential
Yielding always associated with occurrence of plastic volumetric strain and plastic shear strain,
the magnitude of this two strain can be plotted at Y
Normality or Associated Flow
The shape of yield loci and plastic potential can be assumed to be the same to follow the
normality or associated flow, the simplification is due to simplify the computation in f e
calculation.
1.4 Constitutive matrix on non elastic material
2. Selection of soil model
2.1 Linear-Elastic model
This model is suitable for the highly OCR soil or dense / hard sand especially when the applied
loading is small. In this situation, the mobilized settlement is small and stress at the soil should
be below yield point.
2.2 Mohr-Coulomb model (MC)
The five input parameters, i.e. E, , , c and are involved in elastic-plastic
Mohr-Coulomb. This M-C model represents a first-order approximation of soil or rock
behaviour. Besides the five model parameters mentioned above, initial soil conditions
play an essential role in most soil deformation problems. Initial horizontal soil stresses
have to be generated by selecting proper Ko values. It is recommended to use this model
for a first analysis of the problem considered. For each layer one estimates a constant
average stiffness. Due to this constant stiffness, computations tend to be relatively fast
and one obtains a first impression of deformations. As a matter of fact, most soil tends to
exhibit stress interdependency of stiffness (Brinkgreve, 2002).
The plastic condition is applied in this MC model, so restriction has been specified to stress and
strain. In this case, the NC and loose sand is a suitable to use t
2.3 Hardening Soil model (HS)
The more higher level for simulation of soil behaviour is Hardening-Soil model. As
for the Mohr-Coulomb model, limiting states of stress are described by means of the
friction angle , the cohesion, c and the dilatancy angle, . However, soil stiffness is
described much more accurately by using three different input stiffnesses:
a. The triaxial loading stiffness, E50
b. The triaxial unloading stiffness, Eur and
c. The oedometer loading stiffness, Eoed
As average values for various soil types, the correlations of Eur = 3 E50 and Eur = Eoed
but both very soft and very stiff soils tend to give other ratios of Eur over Eoed In contrast to
the Mohr-Coulomb model, the Hardening-Soil model also accounts for stress-
dependency of stiffness moduli. This means that all stiffnesses increase with pressure.
All of those three input stiffnesses relate to a reference stress 100 kPa (1 bar).
The hardening model does not account for softening due to soil dilatancy and de-
bonding effects. In fact, it is an isotropic hardening model and it doesn’t model either
hysteretic and cyclic loading or cyclic mobility. In order to model cyclic loading with
good accuracy one would need a more complex model. In addition, the use of the
Hardening Soil model generally results in longer calculation times, since the material
stiffness matrix is formed and decomposed in each calculation step (Brinkgreve, 2002).
The HS model use stiffness of stress dependency and url stiffness, the suitable for any
case containing compression, excavation/ unloading.
2.4 Cam clay model ( Cambridge clay model )
This model use the concept of critical state, which has been well known for NC and loose sand
which has comparatively high strain.
2.5 Modified Cam-Clay model
2.6 Soft-Soil Creep model (SSC)
The weakness of above Hardening-Soil model does not account for viscous effects,
i.e. creep and stress relaxation, In fact, all soils exhibit some creep and primary
compression and followed by a certain amount of secondary compression. The SSC model
is most dominant in soft soils, i.e. normally consolidated clays, silts and peat. The Soft-
Soil-Creep model is a relatively new model that has been developed for application to
settlement problems of foundations, embankments, etc. For unloading problems, as
normally encountered in tunnelling and other excavation problems, the Soft-Soil-Creep
model hardly supersedes the simple Mohr-Coulomb model.
As for the Mohr-Coulomb model, proper initial soil conditions are also essential
when using the Soft-Soil-Creep model. For the Hardening-Soil model and the Soft-Soil-
Creep model this also includes data on the pre-consolidation stress, as these models
account for the effect of over-consolidation.
All above limitations also hold true for the Soft-Soil-Creep model. In addition, this
model tends to over predict the range of elastic soil behaviour. This is especially the case
for excavation problems, including tunneling (Brinkgreve, 2002).
2.7 Soft Soil model (SS)
The Soft Soil model is a Cam-Clay type model especially meant for primary
compression of near normally-consolidated clay-type soils. Although the modelling
capabilities of this model are superceded by the Hardening Soil model, the Soft Soil
model is still used for the engineer who might be comfortable with this model and still
like to use it in their applications. The same limitations (including these in the SSC-
model) hold in the SS-model. In fact the SS-model is superceded by the HS-model, but is
kept for engineer who are familiar with this model. The utilization of the SS-model
should be limited to the situations that are dominated primarily by compression. It is
certainly not recommended for use in excavation problems (Brinkgreve, 2002).
