An elastoviscoplastic constitutive model for geomaterials: Application to hydromechanical modelling of claystone response to drift excavation

An isotropic elastoviscoplastic constitutive model based on a generalized Hoek-Brown criterion is proposed. The plastic mechanism is characterized by a positive and a negative hardening, and a specific non-associated flow rule allows to take into account the evolution of the dilatancy. Several hydromechanical finite element simulations corresponding to realistic configurations of drift excavations in the underground research laboratory of Bure are presented. Regularization techniques are required to avoid localization phenomena due to softening. A second gradient formulation has been used as it is well suited for dilatant materials such as claystone. Numerical results are discussed and compared with experimental measurements. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.