Extension of a Constitutive Model for Sands to Account for the Sample Preparation Method

Abstract

In this article, an existing constitutive model for sands is extended to account for the fabric effect arising from the sample preparation method. The ISA constitutive model, proposed by Fuentes and Triantafyllidis (Int J Geomech 39:1235–1254, 2015), serves as reference model to be extended. The proposed extension modifies the formulation of the characteristic void ratios, namely the maximum and critical void ratios. It features the conservation of a unique critical state line under large deviator strain amplitudes in order to be consistent with other works. The model performance is evaluated with some element test simulations of samples with different preparation methods. It also includes the simulation of a scaled foundation test on a sand deposited by aerial discharge. The simulations showed that many effects related with the material fabric are captured with the proposed formulation.