Constitutive modeling of inherent anisotropy in a strain space multiple mechanism model for granular materials

Abstract

SummaryConsideration of fabric anisotropy is crucial to gaining an improved understanding of the behavior of granular materials. This paper presents a constitutive model to describe the sand behavior associated with fabric anisotropy within a framework of a strain space multiple mechanism model. In the proposed model, a second‐order fabric tensor is extended by incorporating a new function that represents the effect of inherent (or initial fabric) anisotropy, along with three additional parameters: two of them, a1 and a2, control the degree of anisotropy, and the second mode of inherent anisotropy can be expressed by introducing the parameter a2 as well as the first mode by the parameter a1. The third parameter, θ0, expresses the principal direction of inherent anisotropy (eg, the normal vector direction of bedding planes relative to horizontal axis). The formulation of the dilative component of dilatancy (ie, positive dilatancy) is also extended to consider the effect of inherent anisotropy based on the interlocking mechanism. Experimental data on the complex anisotropic responses of Fraser River sand and Toyoura sand under monotonic loading is used to validate this model. The proposed model is shown to successfully capture anisotropic responses, which become contractive or dilative depending on different principal‐stress directions, with a single set of anisotropy parameters; thus, the model is considered to possess the capability to simulate the anisotropic behaviors of granular materials. In addition to different loadings on the same fabric, the effects of different fabric anisotropies upon the sand behavior under the same loadings are also investigated.