In this paper, two new state variables are included in a conventional elastoplastic model, Modified Cam-clay, to incorporate the influence of pore size distribution changes in the mechanical behavior of unsaturated soils. The first state variable allows capturing the influence of large pore changes in the mechanical behavior, and is controlled by an evolution law that incorporates plastic volumetric strain. The second state variable is added to reproduce suction effects and the evolution of this variable is also controlled by plastic volumetric strain. The new approach is validated against a variety of experimental data of high porosity soils.

Keywords: High porosity soils, Mechanical behavior, Unsaturated soils, New state variables,

Submitted on January 07, 2016.
Final Acceptance on February 10, 2017.
Discussion open until August 31, 2017.
DOI: 10.28927/SR.401003