Effect of plastic volumetric strains on shakedown of hardening granular soils

Abstract

The granular soils are pressure dependent materials and substantial volume change occurs during loading. Some granular soils contract (volume decrease) when sheared and some dilate (volume increase), depending on their initial state. Owing to the plastic volume change that accompanied plastic deformation, the lack of normality rule arises and the granular soil exhibits a non-associated flow rule. As known the non normality has destabilizing effect on the soil behavior in the hardening regime (loss of positive definiteness of the second order work). The unstable behavior usually develops in association with dilation. A contracting soil displaying hardening and stable material behavior under drained conditions, may succumb to unstable flow type when its behavior becomes dilating. This paper deals with the extension of the static shakedown theorem to dilative granular soils in drained conditions, exhibiting pre-failure instability in the hardening regime, in the framework of non associated plasticity.