Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345

www.elsevier.com/locate/compgeo

A macroscopic constitutive law for elasto-plastic multilayered

materials with imperfect interfaces: application to reinforced soils
M. Nejad Ensana, I. Shahrourb,*
a
Institute for Aerospace Research, National Research Council, Canada
b
Laboratoire de Mécanique de Lille, Université des Sciences et Technologies de Lille, France

Received 31 August 2001; accepted 24 May 2002

Abstract
This paper concerns the formulation of a macroscopic constitutive relation for multilayered materials with imperfect interface,
which allows taking into consideration the possibility of slipping at the interface of constituents. The model is developed using the
homogenization approach assuming elasto-plastic behavior for constituents. The paper is composed of three parts. The first one
presents the mathematical formulation of the macroscopic constitutive relation. The second describes the numerical implementation
of this relation in a finite element program. The last part concerns the use of this constitutive relation to study the influence of the
interface properties on the behavior of reinforced soils. Results of numerical simulations show the necessity of the consideration of
slipping at the soil-reinforcement interface in the calculation of reinforced earth structures.
# 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Elasto-plastic; Finite element; Homogenization; Interface; Macroscopic; Multilayered; Reinforced earth; Slipping

1. Introduction the case of composite frictional materials such as the

This paper deals with the elaboration of a macro-
scopic elasto-plastic constitutive relation for multi-
layered materials with imperfect interface. This
constitutive relation can be easily implemented in finite
elements programs and then used for analysis of the
behavior structures composed of multilayered materials
presenting slipping risk at the constituents interface.
The macroscopic constitutive relation is derived using
the homogenization theory, which ensures for periodic
multilayered materials the uniformity of micro-stress
and strain tensors in each constituent [1–3]. This result
permitted the formulation of macroscopic elasto-plastic
constitutive relations for multilayered materials with
perfect interface [4–6]. The application of such models
for practical applications with complex geometry or
loading condition suffers from the hypothesis of perfect
bonding at the interface. Indeed, several studies showed
that the interface properties largely affect the macro-
scopic behavior of composite materials, in particular in
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-320-43-45-45; fax: +33-320-43-
45-83.
E-mail address: isam.shahrour@eudil.fr (I. Shahrour).
0266-352X/03/$ - see front matter # 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/S0266-352X(03)00007-7
reinforced soil [7–13].
In this paper we propose a generalization of the mac-
roscopic constitutive relation proposed for by Pruch-
nicki and Shahrour for multilayered materials with
perfect interface [5]. This generalization aims the exten-
sion of this constitutive relation to take into considera-
tion the possibility of slipping at the interface of
constituents. The first part of the paper presents the
mathematical formulation of the macroscopic con-
stitutive relation. The numerical implementation of this
constitutive relation in a finite element program is then
described. The last part of the paper includes the use of
the constitutive relation to study of the influence of the
interface properties on the behavior of a reinforced
earth wall.
2. Formulation of the macroscopic constitutive relation
The macroscopic constitutive relation is derived using
the homogenization approach. The basic cell of the
multilayered material (Y) is illustrated in Fig. 1. It is
composed of two constituents Y1 and Y2 whose volume
fractions are W1 and W2 (W1+W2=1), respectively.
340 M.N. Ensan, I. Shahrour / Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345

discontinuity of the displacement between the two con-

stituents. The stress vector at the interface ( int) is
decomposed into tangential ( int) and normal (( n)int)
components:
int ¼ int þ ðn Þint ð3aÞ
where
0 1 0 1
21 0
int ¼ @0 A and ðn Þint ¼ @ 22 A ð3bÞ
23 0
The relative tangential displacement (ut) at the
interface
int can be expressed as follows:
0 2 1
u1  u11
Fig. 1. Basic cell of a multilayered material with two constituents. ut ¼ @ 0 A ð4Þ
u23  u13

int and nint denote the interface between Y1 and Y2 and According to the elasto-plastic theory, the relative
the unit vector normal to this interface. The boundary displacement ut is the sum of the elastic (uet ) and
of the basic cell (Y) is designated as @Y. plastic (upt ) parts:
The macro-stress () and strain (E) tensors define the
ut ¼ uet þ upt ð5Þ
average value over the basic cell of the micro-stress ()
and strain (e) tensors, respectively: Assuming that the tangential stress vector at the
ð interface ( int) can be expressed as follows:
1
S¼ dY ð1aÞ
jYj Y int ¼ Kint ðut  upt Þ ð6Þ
ð Kint denotes the elastic rigidity matrix of the interface:
1
E¼ eðuÞdY ð1bÞ 0 1
jYj Y Eint 0 0
Kint ¼ @ 0 0 0 A ð7Þ
u denotes the displacement vector.
0 0 Eint
Assuming that the basic cell is subjected to the macro-
strain tensor (E), the macro-stress tensor () related to
E can be obtained by the solution of the following where Eint is the elastic stiffness of the interface.
elasto-plastic problem [13]: The behavior of the interface is assumed to be gov-
erned by the non-associated Mohr–Coulomb model.
1. Equilibrium equations: div =0
The yield function (fint) and the plastic potential (gint)
2. Constitutive equations: the behavior of each con-
are given by:
stituent is assumed to be governed by an elasto-
plastic constitutive relation with a non-associated fint ¼ jint j þ ðn Þint tgint  Cint ð8aÞ
flow rule. The constitutive relation of the ith con-
stituent is defined by the elasticity tensor ai, the gint ¼ jint j þ ðn Þint tgint ð8bÞ
yield function fi, and the plasticity potential gi. The
where int, Cint and int denote the friction angle,
micro-stress tensor ( i) in the ith constituent can
cohesion and dilatancy angle of the interface.
be expressed as follows:
  Calculation of the macro-strain tensor (E), taking into
 i ¼ ai : e i  ð e p Þ i ð2Þ consideration the discontinuity of the displacement
across the interface
int, leads to the following expres-
where ei and (ep)i denote the total and plastic micro- sion (assuming the normal displacement un is con-
strain tensors in the ith constituent, Ðrespectively. tinuous at the interface
int):
3. Imposed macro-strain: E ¼ jY1 j Y eðuÞdY ð ð
1 1
4. Periodicity conditions: e(u) is Y-periodic and .n is E ¼ w1 1 eðuÞdY 1 þ w2 2 eðuÞdY 2
Y Y1 Y Y2
Y-antiperiodic ð
5. Verification of the interface condition which are 1
þ ut  nint d
ð9aÞ
presented in the following section. Lint
int

The interface is considered as a third material with Lint denotes the length of the interface; the symbol 
zero thickness (i.e. a surface) which allows tangential stands for the following notation:
 M.N. Ensan, I. Shahrour / Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345 341

1 X 2 X
X 2
ðu  vÞij ¼ ðui vj þ uj vi Þ ð9bÞ ¼ ahom : E  W i Sji : ðep Þj þ Siint
2
i¼1 j¼1
Application of the homogenization approach to peri- : upt  nint ð16Þ
odic multilayered materials shows that the micro-stress
and micro-strain tensors are constant in each con-
stituent [1–3]. This result permits the expression of the where ahom denotes the homogenized elasticity tensor,
macro-stress and strain tensors as follows: whose expression is given by:
X
2 X
2
¼ W i i ð10aÞ ahom ¼ Wi SEi ð17Þ
i¼1 i¼1

X
2
Eq. (16) shows that the macroscopic constitutive
E¼ W i ei þ ut  nint ð10bÞ relation involves the micro-plastic strains ((ep)i,
i¼1
i=1,2) and the plastic component of the relative
displacement at the interface (upt ) as hardening
The uniformity of the shear stress at the interface parameters.
implies the uniformity of the tangential displacement at
this interface. This result leads to the following condi-
tion on the micro-strain tensors: 3. Numerical implementation
e1 ¼ e2 ;  ¼ 1; 3 ð11Þ
The macroscopic constitutive model presented in the
The continuity of the stress at the interface leads to previous section was implemented in the finite element
the following condition: program PECPLAS [14,15] using the classical Newton-
1 2 Raphson scheme generally used in elasto-plastic finite
2 ¼ 2  ¼ 1; 3 ð12Þ
element modeling. The stiffness matrix is calculated
Eqs. (2), (6) and (10)–(12) permit the determination of using the homogenized elasticity tensor ahom. For a
the micro-strain tensors (e1 and e2) in terms of the given loading step, the increment of the macro-strain
macro-strain tensor (E), the plastic microstrain tensors tensor (E) is derived from the field displacement.
((ep)i, i=1,2) and the plastic component of the relative Implementation of the macroscopic constitutive
displacement at the interface (upt ): model required the elaboration of certain subroutines,
X
2 which permit the determination of the model
ei ¼ CEi : E þ Cji : ðep Þj þCiint : upt  nint ð13Þ response to the increment of the macro-strain tensor
j¼1 (E). The latter is performed according to the fol-
lowing procedure.
The micro-stress increment is computed assuming an
where CEi represents the strain concentration tensor in elastic behavior for the multilayered material
the elastic domain. Expressions of tensors CEi ; Cji and ( i ¼ SEi : E; int ¼ Kint ut ). Yield criteria were then
Ciint are given in Appendix A. calculated for the two constituents and the interface. If
The micro-stress tensors can be computed from Eqs. any yield criterion is violated, plastic strains are com-
(2) and (13): puted using the consistency condition and the plastic
X
2 flow rules:
 i ¼ SEi : E  Sji : ðep Þj þ Siint : upt  n ð14Þ 8 i
j¼1 < @f :  i ¼ 0
>
i ¼ 1; 2
@ ð18Þ
> @f
: int : int ¼ 0
Expressions of tensors SEi ; Sji and Siint are given by:
@
SEi ¼ ai : CEi
8
Sji ¼ ai : ðIij  Cji Þ > @gi
< ðep Þi ¼ ðlÞi
@ ð19Þ
Siint ¼ ai : Ciint ð15Þ >  
:  u ¼ ðlÞ @g
p
int
t int
@
where I and ij denote the fourth order unit tensor and where l is the plastic multiplier.
the Kronecker symbol, respectively. Incorporating Eqs. (2), (5) and (19) into Eq. (18)
The expression of the macro-stress tensor can be leads to the following set of equations for the plastic
deduced from Eqs. (10a) and (14): multipliers:
342 M.N. Ensan, I. Shahrour / Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345

X
2  
@f i @g j @f i @gint which can be written in matrix form:
: S ij : lj  : S iint : lint  nint 2 1 3
j¼1
@ @ @ @ l
@f i ½M :4 l2 5 ¼ ½m ð21Þ
¼ : SiE : E lint
@
X2   where
@fint @g j @fint @gint
: Sij : lj  : Siint : lint  nint 8
j¼1
@ @ @ @ >
> @f i i @g j
>
> Mij ¼ : Sj : i; j ¼ 1; 2
@fint >
> @ @
: SiE :  >
> @f i
@gint
¼ ð20Þ >
>
@ >
> Mi3 ¼ : Siint :  nint i ¼ 1; 2
>
> @ @
>
> j
< M3j ¼ @fint : S1 : @g
>
j ¼ 1; 2
Table 1 j
@ @ ð22Þ
>
> @f int 1 @g int
a: Properties of the reinforcement and the soil material >
> M33 ¼ @ : Sint : @  nint
>
>
>
>
Material Elastic C (MPa) ’ (
) (
) W >
> @f i i
>
> mi ¼ : SE : E i ¼ 1; 2
modulus >
> @
(MPa) >
> @f
>
: m3 ¼ int : S1E : E
Reinforcement 10500 0.22 6.0 0.0 0.0 0.008 @
Soil 150 0.3 0.0 30.0 30.0 0.992
The out of equilibrium forces are calculated and dis-
b: Properties of the interface
tributed following the classical method used in elasto-
Eint (MPa) Cint (MPa) int (
) int (
) plastic modeling. Eq. (21) allowed the computation of
5300 0.0 20 4.0
the plastic multipliers, which permit the determination
of the plastic micro-strain tensors ((ep)i, i=1,2) and the

Fig. 2. Response of the reinforced soil to out-of-plane tension loading. (a) Schematic of the configuration, (b) a=30
, (c) a=45
, (d) =60
.
 M.N. Ensan, I. Shahrour / Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345 343

plastic relative displacement at the interface (upt ). The be observed that the presence of an imperfect interface
micro-stress and macro-stress increments are calculated largely affects the behavior of the reinforced soil. For the
using Eqs. (14) and (16). The computation of the stress loading direction =30
, failure occurs by plastification
vector at the interface is carried out using Eq. (6). of the soil material and interface slipping, which appear
at the same time. The presence of the imperfect interface
reduces the resistance of the reinforced soil by about 58%.
4. Influence of the interface condition on the behavior However, for other loading directions (=45 and 60
),
of the reinforced soil failure occurs at the interface before plastification of the
soil material. The reduction of the reinforced soil resis-
4.1. Description of simulations tance is about 54% for =45
and 50% for =60
.

The macroscopic model has previously been shown to 4.3. Reinforced earth wall under its own weight
effectively simulate and provide valuable results for
multilayered structures [16,17]. Assuming a perfect bond This section includes analysis of the reinforced earth
between the constituents, good correlation has been illustrated in Fig. 3a under its own weight. The wall is
demonstrated by comparing results obtained by the
macroscopic model to those obtained by finite element
calculations with discretization at the microscopic scale.
The macroscopic model is used to study the influence
of the interface properties on the behavior of reinforced
soils. The study described in this section includes two
numerical simulations. The first concerns the response
of a basic cell to out-of-plane tension loading, while the
second deals with a reinforced earth wall under its own
weight. In both simulations, the response of the rein-
forced earth with an imperfect interface is compared to
that obtained with the perfect interface from references
[16] and [17].
The behavior of the soil is described using the non-
associated Mohr–Coulomb criterion:
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
f ¼ ð22  11 Þ2 þ412 2 þ sin’ð þ  Þ  2Ccos’
11 22
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
g ¼ ð22  11 Þ2 þ412 2 þ sin ð þ  Þ
11 22 ð23Þ

where ’; C and designate respectively the friction

angle, cohesion and dilatancy angle. The behavior of the
reinforcement is assumed to be governed by the Tresca
criterion. Table 1a and b summarizes the properties of
the reinforcement, the soil and the interface.

4.2. Out-of-plane tension paths

The study of the influence of the interface on the

response of a basic cell presenting the reinforced soil to
tension paths imposed in various directions with respect
to the y1 axis (=30, 45, 60) (Fig. 2a) is described in this
section. The basic cell is initially subjected to an iso-
tropic confinement which is equal to 50 kPa. Calcula-
tions are performed with a friction angle of the interface
int=20
, which is equal to two thirds (2/3) of the fric-
tion angle of the soil material.
The response of the reinforced soil is illustrated in
Fig. 3. The behavior of a reinforced earth wall under its own weight.
Fig. 2b–d, which shows the evolution of the deviator of (a) Illustration of wall, (b) finite element model of homogenized rein-
the macroscopic stress tensor in terms of the macro- forced soil, (c) evolution of the horizontal displacement at the upper
scopic strain in the direction of the loading (E). It can corner (point A).
344 M.N. Ensan, I. Shahrour / Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345

Fig. 4. Development of plasticity in the reinforced earth wall (int=10

). (a) fv/=0.2 (20% of loading), (b) fv/=0.5 (50% of loading), (c) fv/
=0.8 (80% of loading).

composed of eight reinforced layers. A uniform two-

dimensional macroscopic finite element model is used
for numerical simulations (Fig. 3b). Analysis is carried
out with two values of the friction angle of the interface
(int=10
and 20
). Numerical simulations were per-
formed by increasing the volume force (fv) from zero to
the unit weight of the soil (=20 kN/m3). Results of
numerical simulations are depicted in Fig. 3c which
shows that the decrease in the friction angle of the inter-
face induces an increase in the displacement at the upper
corner of the wall (point A), indicating a reduction of the
reinforced soil stiffness due to slipping at the interface.
The evolution of plasticity in the reinforced earth wall
(int=10
) is shown in Fig. 4. It can be observed that
plasticity in both the soil material and the interface
starts at the lower corner of the reinforced earth wall,
Fig. 5. Influence of the interface properties on the critical height of a
then extends to cover the major part of the wall. Plasti- reinforced earth wall.
city in the reinforcement appears later, in the center
lower part of the wall.
The macroscopic model was also used to study the
influence of the interface properties on the critical interface indicate a critical height which is equal to 21
height of a reinforced earth wall. Calculations were m. This value well agrees with that obtained by Siad [18]
performed with properties reported in Table 1a and b using the limit analysis approach. With the imperfect
for various values of the height of the wall. The evolu- interface, the critical height decreases from 19 to 15 m
tion of the vertical displacement at the upper corner of when the friction angle int decreases from 20 to 10
.
the wall is shown in Fig. 5. It indicates an augmentation
of this displacement with the increase in the wall height
and a decrease in the friction angle of the interface. 5. Conclusions
The critical height of the wall can be estimated from
this figure: it corresponds to the sharp increase in the This paper includes a presentation of an elasto-plastic
displacement. Results obtained for the wall with perfect macroscopic constitutive model for multilayered mate-
 M.N. Ensan, I. Shahrour / Computers and Geotechnics 30 (2003) 339–345 345

rials with imperfect interface and its implementation in i ð1 þ i Þð1  2 i Þ

i ¼ i ¼
a finite element program. The main advantage of this 1  i ð1  i ÞEY i
X X
model lies on its capacity to account for slipping at the ¼ W i i ¼ W i i
interface between constituents and for the elasto-plastic i i
behavior of constituents. X Wi 1
This model has been successfully implemented in a
¼ i
þ
G Eint
finite element program. Its performance were illustrated i

through its application to the analysis of a reinforced

earth structure. Results of numerical simulations confirm References
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