Experimental study and numerical simulation on mechanical behaviours of EPS geofoam

Abstract

EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) geofoam is the generic name for any cellular material used in geotechnical applications for over 40 years, in order to reduce the settlement of the ground. The material of EPS is polystyrene resin, produced by polymerizing styrene monomer which is created by oil refining, with a density of 12-35kg/m3, whose weight is only 1% ~ 2% compared with rock or concrete with the same volume but can withstand relatively large compressive stresses. In this study, the uniaxial compression and direct shear tests were carried out to investigate the mechanical behavior of EPS geofoam. After that, the numerical simulation of the uniaxial tests was conducted to select an appropriate material model as well as the corresponding parameters to simulate the mechanical behaviour of geofoam. From the numerical simulation results, it is seen that the Hardening Soil (HS) model and Mohr – Coulomb (MC) model can be used to simulate the mechanical behaviour of EPS geofoam.