Cyclic and dynamic mechanical behaviour of granular soils: experimental evidence and constitutive modelling

Abstract

ABSTRACT The mechanical behaviour of granular soils under transient loading conditions is quite complex because of the number of factors influencing it. In this presentation, to make order in the large number of experimental observations and theoretical approaches introduced in the last decades, a systematic approach has been chosen. A basic description of standard laboratory experimental devices conceived to describe the cyclic and dynamic mechanical behaviour of soils will be firstly reported. The main features of the mechanical response, in drained and undrained conditions, of granular soils are described and critically compared. Finally, within the framework of elasticity and elasto-plasticity theories, a brief discussion about some constitutive modelling aspects is introduced.