A semi-empirical elasto-plastic constitutive model for coarse-grained materials that incorporates the effects of freeze-thaw cycles

Authors

Shuang Tian, University of Wollongong
Buddhima Indraratna, University of WollongongFollow
Liang Tang
Yujie Qi, University of WollongongFollow
Xianzhang Ling

RIS ID

143742

Publication Details

Tian, S., Indraratna, B., Tang, L., Qi, Y. & Ling, X. (2020). A semi-empirical elasto-plastic constitutive model for coarse-grained materials that incorporates the effects of freeze-thaw cycles. Transportation Geotechnics, 24

Abstract

© 2020 Elsevier Ltd A volume-shear coupling mechanism is imperative for developing high-speed railways in very cold regions. A series of consolidated drained static triaxial experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of freeze-thaw (F-T) cycles on the stress-strain features of coarse-grained materials (CGM) typically used at the bottom layer of subgrade for high-speed rail tracks in China. Mathematical expressions describing the effect of F-T cycles for residual stress state stress ratio, elastic shear modulus, and specific volume have been proposed. Laboratory observations enabled an empirical dilatancy equation to be incorporated in a constitutive model to capture the salient aspects of the monotonic deformation behaviour of CGM including the F-T effects. After comparing with experimental observations and validating through past independent studies, the proposed constitutive model could accurately predict the monotonic shear behaviour of the CGM exposed to F-T cycles.