Constitutive Modeling of Geomaterials

Abstract

Recent advancements in computer technology have paved the way for solving boundary value problems that could not be solved in the past due to a lack of affordable computing power. However, among other things, the accuracy of boundary value predictions hinges critically on the accuracy with which the constitutive behavior of the material is modeled. While the past several decades have seen impressive progress in the area of constitutive model development, many topics still remain challenging and new methods are continually being proposed. The objective of this special issue is to provide an avenue for presenting some of the recent developments in one place. While there are differences between their behaviors, most geomaterials ~soils, concrete, rocks, etc.! have a lot in common. For example, geomaterials contain pores that are fully or partially filled with fluids, requiring poromechanical behavior to be modeled. Many of the geomaterials exhibit significant creep ~e.g., clays, cement, concrete, asphalt concrete, etc.!. Most importantly, their behaviors are pressuredependent. Concepts developed for modeling one geomaterial can be used directly or with modifications to model another geoma-