Soil modelling: South East Asia: October-November 2010

4. Application of Mohr-Coulomb model (exercise)

David Muir Wood
d.muirwood@dundee.ac.uk
Mohr-Coulomb model: system/element response

system response for example, footing shows progressive

yielding even though model for individual soil elements is
elastic-perfectly plastic
exercise response of two element box model
numerical modelling
for example, finite element, finite difference

equilibrium compatibility of deformations

stresses strains

stress:strain relationship
constitutive model

lectures primarily concerned with introduction to various aspects

and possibilities of constitutive modelling
 v v b v
v

A h P h h
a. h
h
v b.
two element box model single element
as analogue of footing
equilibrium
kinematic compatibility
stress:strain response

p. 1/1
 active failure
v > h single element
=0 =1

vertical
stress v
initial stress h = Kov
h = v

passive failure h > v

horizontal stress h

stress path characterised by = h /v

p. 2/1
 single element

= /(1), = 1,
h h = v
=0 = /(1) = 1
v
vertical
stress v = 0, h = 0, v

= /(1),
v
a. b.
0 strain increment
horizontal stress h

stress paths elastic strains: effect of

p. 3/1
 Mohr-Coulomb two-element model
failure

= =0
A
vertical
stress v A v

a.
h
P

b.
P Mohr-Coulomb
failure hA = -hP hP

horizontal stress h

kinematic compatibility
equal & opposite horizontal strains in elements A, P

p. 4/1
kinematic compatibility
equal & opposite horizontal strains in elements A, P
element P: v = 0; equivalent to compression element
loaded horizontally P = 0
for element P, h /h = E/[(1 + )(1 )]
we can deduce the stress path direction A for element
A
A v /h = E/[(1 + )(1 )] =
A E/(1 + )[A (1 ) ]
A = /[2(1 )] (which is half the elastic Ko value)

p. 5/1
 Mohr-Coulomb
failure

= =0
A
vertical
stress v A v

a.
h
P

b.
P Mohr-Coulomb
failure hA = -hP hP

horizontal stress h

equal & opposite horizontal strains in elements A, P

which element reaches failure first?

p. 6/1
v v element A
yields
A

element P
yields

P
h v

element P reaches failure first

h remains constant
A for element A changes from A = /2(1 ) to
A = 0
p. 7/1
 element P
yields

v A v

element A
yields

h v
element A reaches failure first
A = h /v now changes and remains constant at
A = Ka
stress v can continue to increase until element P
reaches failure
p. 8/1
 element P
yields

v A v

element A
yields

h v
element A reaches failure first
compatibility of horizontal strains: compression of
element P matches extension of element A
hA = ehA + phA = ehP
vA = evA + pvA = evA phA
p. 9/1
Use = 0.25, = 30 , E/b = 200
Calculate Ka , Kp and slope of stress path
A = /[2(1 )]
Plot initial normalised stress states v /b = 1,
h /b = Ko for Ko = (1 + Ka )/2, 1 and (1 + Kp )/2
Plot stress paths for elements A and P for each initial
stress state. For each value of Ko discover which
element reaches failure first and calculate the
corresponding vertical strain in element A (normalised
with E/b )
Plot the stress paths followed as the second element
heads for failure
Calculate the normalised vertical strain in element A at
which the second element reaches failure
Plot the normalised stress:strain response of the
footing for each initial state
p. 10/1