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A Strain-Rate Dependent Clay Constitutive Model with Parametric Sensitivity and Uncertainty Quantification

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Abstract

This paper presents a strain-rate dependent plastic constitutive model for clays. Based on the concepts of critical-state soil mechanics and bounding surface plasticity theory, the model reproduces the mechanical response of clays under triaxial and simple shear loading conditions. The model parameters are determined for Boston Blue Clay, London Clay and Kaolin Clay, and the performance of the model in simulating the mechanical response of these clays is demonstrated for low to medium strain rates. The sensitivity of each model parameter is checked by perturbing the calibrated values by ±20 %. Subsequently, a probabilistic analysis using Monte Carlo simulations is performed by treating the model parameters as random variables and the impact of the statistics of the parameters on the undrained shear strength is investigated.

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Acknowledgments

This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under Grant Award Number 2008-ST-061-TS002. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Connecticut, 261 Glenbrook Road, Unit 2037, Storrs, CT, USA

    H. Martindale

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India

    T. Chakraborty

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    D. Basu

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  1. H. Martindale
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  2. T. Chakraborty
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  3. D. Basu
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Correspondence to D. Basu.

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Martindale, H., Chakraborty, T. & Basu, D. A Strain-Rate Dependent Clay Constitutive Model with Parametric Sensitivity and Uncertainty Quantification. Geotech Geol Eng 31, 229–248 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-012-9582-6

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