Thermo-plasticity of clays: An isotropic yield mechanism

Numerical modelling of the thermo-mechanical behaviour of soils is an important issue in the analysis of problems such as nuclear waste isolation or geothermal structures. The purpose of this paper is to present a new thermo-plastic mechanism for isotropic thermo-mechanical paths including thermal hardening. It is based on considerations of the thermal effect on void ratio. After a discussion of the experimental evidence, the formulation of the thermo-plastic yield mechanism is introduced. Typical features are analysed and the responses of the model discussed. The proposed model is validated on the basis of experimental results on two different clays. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.