Application of constitutive model to predict the behavior of EPS-geofoam

EPS (Expanded Polystyrene)-geofoam, a super light weight material, has the unit weight of 20–30 kg/m3 and is used as one of the methods acquiring the safety for settlement and bearing capacity. There are a few constitutive models for the selection of the EPS-geofoam fill which is essential to the determination of the fill configuration and the settlement calculation. However, it is difficult to determine the parameters of its model. In this paper, therefore, a practical nonlinear constitutive model developed from the results of drained triaxial compression tests was proposed. The proposed nonlinear numerical constitutive model was applied to a large scale model test and to a field construction in Japan. The predictions agree well with the measurements.