Simple Modelling of Undrained Shear Response of Granular Materials

A vast amount of past experimental investigations reported that the internal peak angle of sand was jointly governed by the density and effective stress level. Several relationships were proposed between these elements. The dependence of dilatancy characteristics on the internal state of a granular material was examined and revealed. A simple constitutive model framework was established on a basis of several well-proven and experienced relationships for granular materials to simulate their undrained shear behaviour. A basic hardening law connecting the varying tendency of the stress ratio with shear strain was employed. This model is capable of predicting the undrained monotonic stress-strain relationship of granular materials at different densities and various confining pressures. A series of parametric studies are conducted to investigate the susceptibility of the simulation results to the selected parameters. The simulation results also confirm the influential influences of dilatancy and deformability on the shear characteristics of granular materials at the critical state.