description of cam clay and modified cam clay critical state strength models.pdf

Description of Cam-Clay and Modified-Cam-Clay Critical State Strength Models Introduction The first critical state models for describing the behaviour of soft soils such as clay, the Cam-Clay (CC) and Modified Cam-Clay (MCC) were formulated by researchers at Cambridge University. Both models describe three important aspects of soil behaviour: (i) Strength (ii) Compression or dilatancy (the volume change that occurs with shearing) (iii) Critical state at which soil elements can experience unlimited distortion without any changes in stress or volume. A large proportion of the volume occupied by a soil mass consists of voids that may be filled by fluids (primarily air and water). As a result, deformations in soil are accompanied by significant, and often non-reversible, volume changes. A major advantage of cap plasticity models, a class to which the CC and MCC formulations belong, is their ability to model volume changes more realistically. The primary assumptions of the CC and MCC models are described next. In critical state mechanics, the state of a soil sample is characterized by three parameters: ? Effective mean stress p ? Deviatoric (shear stress) q , and ? Specific volume ν . Under general stress conditions, the mean stress, p , and the devaitoric stress, q , can be calculated in terms of principal stresses 1σ , 2σ and 3σ as ( ) 1 2 313p σ σ σ= + + ( ) ( ) ( )2 2 2 1 2 2 3 3 112q σ σ σ σ σ σ= ? + ? + ? The specific volume is defined as 1 eν = + , where e is the void ratio. Virgin Consolidation Line and Swelling Lines The models assume that when a soft soil sample is slowly compressed under isotropic stress conditions ( ) 1 2 3 pσ σ σ= = = , and under perfectly drained conditions, the relationship between specific volume, ν , and ln p consists of a straight virgin consolidation line (also known as the normal compression line) and a set of straight swelling lines (see Figure 1). Swelling lines are also c