Numerical simulation of EPS geofoam behaviour in triaxial tests

Purpose – EPS geofoam has been widely used in embankment construction, slope stabilisation, retaining walls, bridge approaches and abutments. Nevertheless, the potential of EPS geofoam as an engineering material in geotechnical applications has not been fully realised yet. The purpose of this paper is to present the finite element formulation of a constitutive model based on the hardening plasticity, which has the ability to simulate short-term behaviour of EPS geofoam, to predict the mechanical behaviour of EPS geofoam and it is implemented in the finite element programme ABAQUS. Design/methodology/approach – Finite element formulation is presented based on the explicit integration scheme. Findings – The finite element formulation is verified using triaxial test data found in the literature (Wong and Leo, 2006 and Chun et al., 2004) for two varieties of EPS geofoam. Performance of the constitute model is compared with four other models found in the literature and results confirm that the constitutive mod...

[1]  Byung-Sik Chun,et al.  Application of constitutive model to predict the behavior of EPS-geofoam , 2001 .

[2]  Myung Sagong,et al.  Development of a hyperbolic constitutive model for expanded polystyrene (EPS) geofoam under triaxial compression tests , 2004 .

[3]  M. P. Romo,et al.  Dynamic characterization of EPS geofoam , 2011 .

[4]  John S. Horvath,et al.  Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) geofoam: An introduction to material behavior , 1994 .

[5]  Richard J. Bathurst,et al.  Numerical Analysis of Earthquake Load Mitigation on Rigid Retaining Walls Using EPS Geofoam , 2012 .

[6]  Chin Jian Leo,et al.  Behavior of EPS geofoam in true triaxial compression tests , 2008 .

[7]  G. E. Abdelrahman,et al.  Rate effects on the stress-strain behaviour of eps geofoam , 2008 .

[8]  Aurelian C. Trandafir,et al.  Stiffness Degradation and Yielding of EPS Geofoam under Cyclic Loading , 2012 .

[9]  Chin Jian Leo,et al.  A simple elastoplastic hardening constitutive model for EPS geofoam , 2006 .

[10]  A. Ossa,et al.  Micro- and macro-mechanical study of compressive behavior of expanded polystyrene geofoam , 2009 .

[11]  Steven F. Bartlett,et al.  Confining Stress Effects on the Stress-Strain Response of EPS Geofoam in Cyclic Triaxial Tests , 2011 .

[12]  Steven F. Bartlett,et al.  Behavior of EPS geofoam in stress-controlled cyclic uniaxial tests , 2010 .

[13]  J. Magnan,et al.  PROPRIETES MECANIQUES DU POLYSTYRENE EXPANSE POUR SES APPLICATIONS EN REMBLAI ROUTIER , 1989 .

[14]  G. A. Athanasopoulos,et al.  Dynamic Properties of EPS Geofoam: An Experimental Investigation , 1999 .

[15]  S. Bang,et al.  BEHAVIOR OF EXPANDED POLYSTYRENE BLOCKS , 1994 .

[16]  Hemanta Hazarika,et al.  Modeling the behavior of a hybrid interactive system involving soil, structure and EPS geofoam , 2004 .

[17]  Osamu Kusakabe,et al.  Application of wave barriers as a countermeasure against train-induced ground vibrations , 2010 .

[18]  Richard J. Bathurst,et al.  Numerical modeling of EPS seismic buffer shaking table tests , 2008 .

[19]  Hemanta Hazarika,et al.  Stress–strain modeling of EPS geofoam for large-strain applications , 2006 .

[20]  Dawit Negussey,et al.  DESIGN PARAMETERS FOR EPS GEOFOAM , 2007 .