ON THE ELASTIC PROPERTIES OF THE EQUIVALENT TRANSVERSELY ISOTROPIC MATERIAL

Abstract

<p>The subject of this study is the mechanical response of soil masses consisting of numerous strata in their elastic range. The study comprises analytical, experimental and numerical aspects and provides an insight to the concept of 'equivalent' homogeneous cross-anisotropic material indicating that a system of strata can be replaced by an equivalent transversely isotropic material. <br /><br />The elastic material properties of such an equivalent transversely isotropic are derived analytically, based on the elastic constants of the constituents. The experimental study is carried out to investigate and verify the concept of the equivalent transversely isotropic material. The experiments involve triaxial tests on samples of two types of homogeneous clay, as well as tests on layered samples consisting of the homogeneous materials. In the numerical part of the study, the tests conducted in the experiments, were simulated via finite element analysis. A comparison is made between the elastic constants obtained from the mathematical formulation, the experiments and FE simulations.</p>