Hypoplastic Model Research Articles

On progressive failure of sand considering fabric evolution with micropolar hypoplastic model

To study the progressive failure of sand considering the multi-scale and its fabric evolution, the fabric is used as the quantitative link from micro to macro, then the influence of fabric on the anisotropic critical state is adopted to establish a hypoplastic model, and the fabric evolution and micropolar theory are employed to describe the mesoscopic mechanism of local deformation, finally, the simulations of discrete element methods (DEM) and finite element methods (FEM) is coordinated to reproduce the progressive failure. In the DEM biaxial simulations, the distribution of the contact normal is quantitatively determined by the novel orthotropic fabric tensor, and the difference in particle shapes and sample position showed that the fabric evolution is obvious, especially inside and outside the shear band, and before or after the shear band penetration. The fabric evolution of DEM is implanted into the corresponding location of the FEM sample, the results indicate that the macro-meso incorporation hypoplastic model can effectively describe strain localization evolution and progressive failure. The internal length of micropolar theory and particle size are identified as the main factors influencing the shear band thickness. The anisotropic fabric influences the shear band patterns, with circular and elliptical particles tending to form an "X-shape" shear band, while square and triangular particles tend to form a "L-shape" shear band.

On anisotropic local bifurcation based on hypoplastic model

The incipience of shear band in homogeneous granular materials is well captured by the bifurcation analysis. Most bifurcation analyses are based on isotropic plastic constitutive models. In this paper, a hypoplastic constitutive model is presented by considering a fabric tensor for inherent anisotropy. Based on this model, we carry out bifurcation analysis for the plane strain case, and then extend the analysis to consider general three-dimensional stress state. The theoretical results are compared with experiments on sand conducted using a plane strain device and a true triaxial device. It's indicated the salient features of stress-strain behaviour and shear band formation are well captured by our analyses.

Bearing performance of a novel caisson–plate gravity anchor

To provide a more reliable shared anchor for floating wind farms, a novel caisson–plate gravity anchor (CGA) is proposed. This design merges the benefits of both gravity anchors and suction caissons. Centrifuge model tests adopting only half of each anchor were carried out to study their bearing performance in sand. In addition, particle image velocimetry analyses were performed to monitor anchor movement and soil displacement. As supplementary data, numerical simulations with an advanced hypoplasticity model were also conducted to reveal the anchor capacity mobilisation mechanism. Findings indicate that the novel CGA possesses a significantly higher bearing capacity compared to standalone caisson or plate designs. By adding a plate above the caisson and increasing its weight, the anchor failure modes may shift from forward rotation to translational movement. In addition, this adjustment may transition the brittle failure to a more reliable ductile failure. This augmented capacity of the CGA stems from the expanded soil mobilisation region and increased soil stress level in front of the caisson. The proposed CGA provides a promising solution for shared anchors in floating wind farms.

A gradation-dependent hypoplastic model for crushable sands

A gradation-dependent hypoplastic model for crushable sands

Numerical model for solid-like and fluid-like behavior of granular flows

We propose a constitutive model for both the solid-like and fluid-like behavior of granular materials by decomposing the stress tensor into quasi-static and collisional components. A hypoplastic model is adopted for the solid-like behavior in the quasi-static regime, while the viscous and dilatant behavior in the fluid-like regime is represented by a modified μ(I)\\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \\usepackage{amsmath} \\usepackage{wasysym} \\usepackage{amsfonts} \\usepackage{amssymb} \\usepackage{amsbsy} \\usepackage{mathrsfs} \\usepackage{upgreek} \\setlength{\\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \\begin{document}$$\\mu (I)$$\\end{document} rheology model. This model effectively captures the transition between solid-like and fluid-like flows. Performance and validation of the proposed model are demonstrated through numerical simulations of element tests.

Coupled hydro-mechanical hypoplastic model for partially saturated soils under monotonic and cyclic loading

Coupled hydro-mechanical hypoplastic model for partially saturated soils under monotonic and cyclic loading

Hypoplastic modeling post-failure behavior of sandy slope with porosity spatial variability

Recent probabilistic studies have thoroughly examined how uncertainties in soil shear strength affect slope stability, while the impact of spatial variability in soil porosity on post-failure behaviors of slopes has received less attention. Overlooking the influence of porosity may lead to inaccurate assessments of slope post-failure behaviors. This study presents a random smoothed particle hydrodynamics (RSPH) framework for probabilistic analysis of slope failure with large deformation using a critical state-based hypoplastic constitutive model. The results indicate that the proposed RSPH method provides reasonable estimates for slope post-failure behaviors. Increases in both the coefficient of variation (COV) and the scale of fluctuation (SOF) of porosity give rise to underestimations of the run-out distance and sliding volume. Additionally, slope failure modes are affected by increasing uncertainty of porosity, which may contribute to the occurrence of deep-seated failures.

Hypoplastic model for solid-like and fluid-like granular flows

We present a unified constitutive model for the solid-like and fluid-like behaviour of granular materials by decomposing the stress rate tensor into frictional and collisional parts. An enhancement to the classical hypoplastic model is implemented to consider the acceleration effect in both steady and unsteady granular flows, achieved by introducing a higher-order strain rate. This model can effectively capture the rate-independent and rate-dependent behaviours observed in solid-like and fluid-like granular flows. Performance and validation of the unified model are presented through numerical simulations of diverse element tests.

Simhypo-sand: a simple hypoplastic model for granular materials and SPH implementation

This paper introduces a new hypoplastic model characterized by a simple and elegant formulation. It requires only 7 material parameters to depict salient mechanical behaviors of granular materials. The numerical implementation employs an explicit integration method, enhanced by a best-fit stress correction algorithm in a smoothed particle hydrodynamics code. The performance of this model in capturing soil behavior across a range of scenarios is demonstrated by conducting various numerical tests, including triaxial and simple shear at low strain rates, as well as granular collapse, rigid penetration and landslide process at high strain rates.

Predictive abilities of constitutive models for clay under monotonic and cyclic loading: element tests and centrifuge experiments

A critical investigation of three constitutive models for clay by means of analyses of a sophisticated laboratory testing program and of centrifuge tests on monopiles in clay subjected to (cyclic) lateral loading is presented. Constitutive models of varying complexity, namely the basic Modified Cam Clay model, the hypoplastic model with Intergranular Strain (known as Clay hypoplasticity model) and the more recently proposed anisotropic visco-ISA model, are considered. From the simulations of the centrifuge tests with monotonic loading it is concluded that all three constitutive models give satisfactory results if a proper calibration of constitutive model parameters and proper initialisation of state variables is ensured. In the case of cyclic loading, the AVISA model is found to perform superior to the hypoplastic model with Intergranular Strain.

Shear rate dependency on flowing granular biomass material

The commercialization of bioenergy has been significantly limited by various material handling issues due to the poor flowability of granular biomass materials. Addressing these issues demands a fundamental understanding of flow physics and robust models to predict the multi-regime flow behavior of biomass particles. In this study, we investigated the multi-regime flow behavior of loblolly pine chips, a widely used bioenergy feedstock, through combined experiments and simulations. A quasi-static hypoplastic model and a cross-regime Drucker–Prager (DP)-μ(I) model were utilized and validated against inclined plane flow experiments to understand the quasi-static and dense flow behavior of milled pine chips. The results show that along the inclined plane, loblolly pine chips mainly present in heap flow (varying thickness along the plane), and in plane flow (iso-thickness along the plane) only when the inclination closes to the material’s critical state internal friction angle. The results also show that the multi-regime DP-μ(I) model predicts a completely different velocity profile from the hypoplastic model. DP-μ(I) model can capture the flow behavior of pine chips in both flow regimes well but at the cost of extra parameter determination, and the shear-rate dependent rheology model can successfully capture the flow of elongated high-frictional particles. These findings advance the scientific understanding of the multi-regime flow behavior of granular biomass materials and shed light on formulating novel constitutive models to assist granular biomass handling in the bioenergy industry.

Improvement of a hypoplastic model for sand under undrained loading conditions

An important drawback of the hypoplastic model is the inaccurate prediction of the sand behavior under undrained monotonic loading conditions. The model is not able to reproduce the limited liquefaction type response widely observed in undrained tests on loose sand, and it often underestimates the initial stiffness and hardening rate of sand during the shearing. To address these issues, three novel modifications are introduced into a basic hypoplastic model to enhance its undrained predictive capability. Firstly, a new factor is added to the nonlinear term of the model, allowing the simulation of a purely elastic response at the beginning of loading. By doing so, the model can accurately capture the initial stiffness and undrained effective stress path of sand. Secondly, the characterized void ratios are related to an evolving state variable, enabling the model to reasonably reproduce the limited flow response and quasi-steady state. Furthermore, a new term is incorporated into the deviatoric part of the strain rate to adjust the hardening rate of the model. The model performance for undrained loading is significantly improved through the above modifications, as evidenced by the good agreement between simulation results and experimental data for tests with varying densities and confining pressures.

Evaluation of borehole interface shear test simulations for cohesive soils under monotonic loading: A comparison of Mohr–Coulomb and hypoplasticity constitutive models

The Cyclic Interface Shear Test (CIST) device was recently developed to evaluate the response of soil–structure interfaces subjected to monotonic or cyclic loading. Numerical models of the CIST have not been documented. Such simulations may be beneficial to help guide the design of experiments, interpret results, and inform the development of further experimental device modifications. In the present paper, a series of interface shear tests utilizing the CIST system on a cohesive soil under monotonic loadings were simulated using a proposed three-dimensional model in the commercial finite element analysis software ABAQUS/Standard. Comparisons of simulations with experimental results are presented for the Mohr–Coulomb and hypoplasticity models for cohesive soils. It is found that (i) the clay-based hypoplasticity model outperformed the simpler Mohr–Coulomb model in terms of predicting the interface shear stress evolution and the soil volume change and (ii) the clay-based hypoplasticity model allows for identification of trends in shear response as a function of normal confining pressures at the soil–structure interface (e.g. soil–structure interface shear zone thickness). Neither of these capabilities have previously been documented or experimentally validated for cohesive soil–structure interface simulations using clay-based hypoplasticity models.

An improved hypoplastic model incorporating intergranular strain for overconsolidated clay

Hypoplastic constitutive models are able to describe overconsolidated behaviors of clay with a single nonlinear tensor function using a set of parameters. For instance, an advanced hypoplastic model by Wang and Wu (2020) has successfully reproduced overconsolidated history by incorporating a structure tensor. To simulate the recent stress history effects and the stiffness variations at small strains of clay, the intergranular strain tensor is introduced by Niemunis and Herle (1997) to reproduce stress-path dependent stiffness of clay. The improved hypoplastic model is examined against experiments on overconsolidated Chicago clay. It is evidently concluded that the improved model is capable of replicating stress-path dependency on the small-strain behavior of overconsolidated clay.

Numerical Evaluation of Pile Group Behavior Subject to Earthquake Loads

The seismic design of pile foundations mainly relies on analyzing the seismic response of layered, liquefiable locations. Two design scenarios are taken into consideration from the case histories; the first is how pile foundations react to the stresses and lateral displacements brought on by the lateral dispersion of liquefied soil. The second is how to piles reaction to seismic activity that occurs with the development of high pore water pressures. The PLAXIS 3D software is utilized in this research with a non-linear soil constitutive model (hypoplastic model) for both dry and saturated loose sandy soils under the impact of two earthquakes and the motion of different features to give a complete understanding of the dynamic piled foundation response. The findings from this study show that the site profile, pile diameter, pile length, and excitation of ground motion significantly affect the dynamic response of the layered liquefied site. So, in the saturated case, the increase in the piles length to (L/D = 55) in comparison to the original length (L/D = 35) decreased the peak acceleration at the raft foundation by about (24.4 and 41.9) % under the effect of Kobe and Upland earthquake motion, respectively, while in the dry case, the reduction in peak acceleration was about (22.8 and 40.9) % under the effect of Kobe and Upland earthquake motion, respectively.

3D SPH implementation to large deformation of granular mass using an advanced hypoplastic constitutive model

In this study, an advanced hypoplastic model incorporating the critical state is integrated into smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) for the numerical investigation of geotechnical large-deformation problems. Moreover, a return mapping strategy is proposed to regulate the stress state to avoid calculation failure. Furthermore, a closed-form solution to predicting the failure surface implicitly incorporated in the hypoplastic model is derived. The proposed SPH method is examined with element tests such as the oedometer test and biaxial compression test to observe a good performance of the SPH model. Finally, the SPH model is applied to numerically reproducing sand column collapse to investigate the effect of the initial void ratio on the behavior of soil.

Cyclic response of laterally loaded pile after storm loading

Offshore wind farms in China are in tropical cyclone zones, where typhoons or tropical revolving storms will pass through every year and can produce huge loads on the offshore wind turbines. Therefore, the stability of OWT foundations after storm loading is critical to ensure the safe operation and design life of turbines. While monopile is the most used foundation type for offshore wind, little studies exist on the cyclic response of monopile after storm loading. To fill the gap, this study presents a unique centrifuge and numerical study on the cyclic deflection response of monopile in medium dense sand after extreme storm loading. The centrifuge test was performed at 100g on a typical monopile with a prototype diameter (D) and embedded depth (L) of 4 m and 60 m, respectively. Finite element (FE) simulations using the advanced hypoplastic model for sand were performed to back-analyze the centrifuge test and provide further insights into the test results. From the centrifuge test, a unique “self-healing” beahviour of monopile was observed for the first time, where the foundation exhibited a deflection recovery response and tilted back to its initial position under the small amplitude cyclic load after the storm loading. This “self-healing” beahviour was also replicated by the FE model. By looking into the computed pile-soil interaction and soil element states around the pile, it was found that the “self-healing” response is attributed to the “lock-in” bending moment after the storm loading. This “lock-in” bending moment generated significant compressive horizontal stress on the soil elements behind the pile and produced more compressive strain under cyclic loading. As a result, the pile exhibited the “self-healing” response and tilted back against the loading direction.

Application of fluid rheology models for milled woody biomass and non-recyclable municipal solid waste particles

Biofuels from biomass and non-recyclable municipal solid waste (N-MSW) can potentially replace aviation fossil fuels. However, the cost-effectiveness is impeded by feedstock handling issues, such as unstable flow or jamming in hoppers and feeders. This issue can be solved mainly based on enhanced understanding of the rheology of biomass and N-MSW particles, which remains poorly understood. Leveraging discrete and continuum-based granular rheology models, in this study, we conduct industry-scale hopper flow testing of milled woody biomass, paper, cardboard, foam, thin film, and plastic particles, and investigate the potential of using fluid rheology models to characterize the hopper flow behavior. The hopper flow tests demonstrate different flow behaviors of tested materials, including fast flow, stable-to-unstable flow, and varying flow rates. Numerical simulation of hopper flow tests utilizing the Gudehus-Bauer hypoplastic model demonstrates good agreement with experimental data for the biomass and rigid plastic particles, and those using non-Newtonian fluid models exhibit promising agreement with experimental data with low computational cost. However, new fluid rheological models are required to capture the unstable and varying rate flows of highly compressible particles such as paper and foam. This study advances the knowledge on the rheology of particulate biomass and N-MSW materials for biofuel production.

An anisotropic hypoplastic model for clays considering the non-coaxial behavior

Previous experimental tests on clays have confirmed the non-coincidence of principal strain increments with principal stress axes even though the stress rate is colinear with the current stress. To simulate the non-coaxial behavior of saturated clay subjected to monotonic proportional or non-proportional loading with constant principal stress rate directions, an anisotropic hypoplastic model is presented in this paper. The model is proposed by incorporating an improved anisotropic asymptotic state boundary surface (ASBS) and a non-coaxial asymptotic strain rate direction into the original explicit-ASBS hypoplastic model. The non-coaxial flow results from a non-coaxial stress rate defined by a Gram-Schmidt orthogonalization process based on a reference stress tensor. The capability of the proposed model is demonstrated by simulating the test data performed in hollow cylindrical apparatus (HCA) on Wenzhou clay and Shanghai clay with different drainage conditions and initial consolidation states. In addition, a series of numerical stress probing tests have been conducted to gain further insights into the properties of the proposed model.

A hypoplastic model for pre- and post-liquefaction analysis of sands

This article proposes an extended constitutive model for liquefaction analysis of sands. The proposed model is formulated based on the hypoplastic model for granular soils by von Wolffersdorf (1996), enhanced with Intergranular Strain Anisotropy by Fuentes et al. (2019), which is usually referred to as ISA-hypoplasticity. The proposed extended model includes some modifications that are indispensable for the correct prediction of liquefaction-related analysis: (i) a new Lode-angle-dependent function for post-liquefaction shear strain accumulation, (ii) a modification for fabric change effects, (iii) the theory of the so-called semifluidized state. The first modification allows the model to predict shear strain accumulation in extension and compression during cyclic mobility. The second and third modifications, were initially developed by Liao et al. (2022) for hypoplasticity with conventional intergranular strain based on the pioneer work by Barrero et al. (2020) for Sanisand, and enable the model to reproduce fabric change effects upon loading reversal, and stiffness and dilatancy degradation at low effective stress levels, respectively. With the consideration of the new Lode-angle function, the proposed model realistically predict the increasing shear strain accumulation in both extension and compression without adopting a circular critical state surface, as adopted in Liao et al. (2022). The proposed model was carefully calibrated and validated based on a series of monotonic and cyclic triaxial tests on Zbraslav and Karlsruhe fine sands, considering various testing conditions. The comparison between experimental measurements and numerical predictions of undrained cyclic tests suggests that the proposed model accurately describes the pre- and post-liquefaction stages, as well as the stress attractors.