Validation and calibration of a hypoplastic model for expansive soils

Due to their mineralogical composition, some soils tend to change in volume when they come into contact with water. Volumetric expansion or development of swelling pressure are manifestations of this tendency. In construction practice, both the swelling phenomena and the hydromechanically coupled material behavior must be considered in the design of tunnels or sealing structures. Existing empirical models are often inadequate for complex boundary conditions, while on the other hand, the application of sophisticated mechanical constitutive models represents a major challenge due to complex model formulations and parameter calibration. In this paper a novel hypoplastic constitutive model for expansive soils recently presented by the authors is validated by applying it to a wide set of experimental campaigns. A simplified parameter calibration without requiring complex experimental investigations is demonstrated to ease practical application of the constitutive model.

Automated summary

In this paper, the authors validate a novel hypoplastic constitutive model for expansive soils by applying it to a wide set of experiments. It is also demonstrated that a simplified parameter calibration can facilitate the practical application of the constitutive model.