Accounting for Temperature Dependence in Numerical Analysis of Elasto-Plastic Deformation of Saturated and Unsaturated Soils

Abstract

Elasto-plastic analysis methods for saturated and unsaturated soils that can account for temperature effects have not been well established. The main objective of this study was to develop a numerical method for elasto-plastic analysis of saturated and unsaturated soils that can consider the temperature dependence and to validate the model. A model with a new material parameter accounting for such temperature dependence observed in the results of isotropic consolidation tests of unsaturated soils was coupled with the existing saturated and unsaturated elasto-plastic model. Triaxial compression tests conducted under different temperatures for silt with different densities (loosely and densely packed) were simulated using the proposed coupled model. As for the loosely packed specimen, the model reproduced well that the strength of the critical state was not affected by temperature. As for the densely packed specimen, while it was simulated that the shear strength became smaller at higher temperature, there were discrepancies between observed and simulated values. Although the smaller volumetric strain (i.e., expansion) at higher temperatures was well simulated, the simulation overestimated that at lower temperature. It could be corrected at some extent with the introduction of the shear band concept.