Dilation and modelling of sands in the light of experimental data

Abstract

The problem of dilation is discussed in the context of classical Cam-Clay model, which was developed on the basis of a specific assumption regarding the plastic work. This assumption leads to a special form of the dilation function, from which a shape of yield function is derived. The above mentioned assumption is compared with the results of the triaxial tests, performed on the model "Skarpa" sand. It is shown that the Cam-Clay approach is not realistic, as it is based on the assumption which is not consistent with experimental data. Some general considerations and discussion of this problem are also presented.