The influence of different features of natural soft clays,namely anisotropy,destructuration and viscosity,on modelling the time-dependent behaviour of Murro embankment was investigated.The newly developed elasto-viscoplastic models were enhanced for determining viscosity parameters in a straightforward way and adopted for the finite element analysis.The same set of common parameters determined from conventional triaxial and oedometer tests was employed for all models,with additional parameters required for representing different soil features.The finite element predictions by using models coupled with BIOT's consolidation theory were compared with each other and with field data for settlement,horizontal displacement and excess pore pressures.In addition,the stress paths under the embankment loading were also compared with each other to improve the understanding of the effect of different soil features.All simulations demonstrate that all three features significantly influence the predictions.As a consequence,accounting for soil features needs to be carefully considered when they are applied to a construction site.
Experimental evidence has indicated that clay exhibits strain-softening response under undrained compression following anisotropic consolidation.The purpose of this work was to propose a modeling method under critical state theory of soil mechanics.Based on experimental data on different types of clay,a simple double-surface model was developed considering explicitly the location of critical state by incorporating the density state into constitutive equations.The model was then used to simulate undrained triaxial compression tests performed on isotropically and anisotropically consolidated samples with different stress ratios.The predictions were compared with experimental results.All simulations demonstrate that the proposed approach is capable of describing the drained and undrained compression behaviors following isotropic and anisotropic consolidations.
