Lagrangian modelling of large deformation induced by progressive failure of sensitive clays with elastoviscoplasticity

Xue Zhang (1) , Daichao Sheng (1) , Scott W Sloan (1) , Jeremy Bleyer (2)

1 UoN - University of Newcastle [Callaghan, Australia]
2 navier umr 8205 - Laboratoire Navier

This paper presents a Lagrangian formulation of elastoviscoplasticity, based on the Particle Finite Element Method, for progressive failure analysis of sensitive clays. The sensitive clay is represented by an elastoviscoplastic model which is a mixture of the Bingham model, for describing rheological behaviour, and the Tresca model with strain softening for capturing the progressive failure behaviour. The finite element formulation for the incremental elastoviscoplastic analysis is reformulated, through the application of the Hellinger-Reissner variational theorem, as an equivalent optimization program that can be solved efficiently using modern algorithms such as the interior-point method. The recast formulation is then incorporated into the framework of the Particle Finite Element Method for investigating progressive failure problems related to sensitive clays, such as the collapse of a sensitive clay column and the retrogressive failure of a slope in sensitive clays, where extremely large deformation occurs.

Mots clés: Progressive failure; Sensitive clays; Strain softening; Elastoviscoplasticity

Domaines: Matériaux et structures en mécanique [physics.class-ph]

Xue Zhang, Daichao Sheng, Scott W Sloan, Jeremy Bleyer. Lagrangian modelling of large deformation induced by progressive failure of sensitive clays with elastoviscoplasticity. International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, 2017, 112 (8), pp.963-989. ⟨10.1002/nme.5539⟩. ⟨hal-01485340⟩