Elasto-plastic Constitutive Model for Overconsolidated Clays

Constitutive model for saturated cohesive soils based on the bounding surface plasticity notion with anisotropic hardening law is presented in the paper. The model predicts inelastic behaviour of overconsolidated cohesive soils. The projection centre is the only point in the stress space which represents elastic soil behaviour. Approximation of the plastic modulus within the preconsolidation domain is made using the radial mapping rule between a projection centre and a reflecting point on the bounding surface. The projection centre changes its position each time when stress path turns rapidly of more than 90°. The configuration of the elliptic bounding surface is governed by preconsolidation effective pressure p′c which depends on change of plastic both volumetric and deviatoric strain. Associated flow rule has been assumed in the formulation. Integration of constitutive relations is done according to forward Euler scheme with error control proposed by Sloan. The effectiveness of the proposed model is illustrated in both monotonic and cyclic loading in the homogeneous triaxial drained and undrained conditions.