An elastoplastic model of bentonite free swelling

This article proposes a new plastification mechanism to model bentonite free swelling processes by using an elastoplastic approach. The formulation is based on an interaction function that defines the plastic macrostructural strains induced by microstructural effects. This term is defined as a funct...

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Bibliographic Details
Authors: Pintado, Xavier, Alonso Aperte, Juan, Navarro Gamir, Vicente, Asensio Sánchez, Laura, Yustres Real, Ángel
Format: article
Publication Date:2014
Country:España
Institution:Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha
Repository:RUIdeRA. Repositorio Institucional de la UCLM
OAI Identifier:oai:ruidera.uclm.es:10578/4046
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10578/4046
Access Level:Open access
Keyword:Física química y matemáticas
Ciencias naturales y ciencias de la salud
Ingenierías
Description
Summary:This article proposes a new plastification mechanism to model bentonite free swelling processes by using an elastoplastic approach. The formulation is based on an interaction function that defines the plastic macrostructural strains induced by microstructural effects. This term is defined as a function of the microstructural void ratio, and it establishes a direct connection between the destructuration of the micro- and macrostructures of the bentonite during the free swelling processes. The formulation proposed also includes a new approach to the calculation of the microstructural void ratio as well as a new method to describe the kinetic mass exchange between micro- and macrostructural water, considering that there may not be equilibrium between the two types of water. The model was used to analyse several free swelling tests and was found to yield satisfactory results.