An analysis of geotechnical problems involving strain softening effects (Q4934157)

In this paper the author presents two alternate models concerning strain softening effects in geomaterials, namely ``material softening'' and ``structural softening''. The first one is related to the loss of overall bearing capacity of the material, the strain softening being an intrinsic characteristic of the constitutive law which presents a decreasing part of the stress-strain curve. This kind of approach leads, generally, to ill-posed problems, to numerical instability and to mesh dependency of approximate solution of the problem. The second model is based on the loss of uniqueness of the solution for the problem under consideration. The loading path bifurcation is possible for perfectly plastic or for positive hardening materials, providing a non-associated plastic flow rule, and for a negative hardening material in the presence of an associated plastic flow rule. After presenting an analytical example of structural softening, the author develops a finite element procedure to solve softening problems, which includes the onset of softening and the post-bifurcation path. Finally, the author discusses a numerrical experiment concerning a small-scale model of a shallow tunnel.