Granular materials reach critical states upon shearing. The position and shape of a critical state line (CSL) in the compression plane are important for constitutive models, interpretation of in situ tests and liquefaction analyses. It is not fully clear how grain crushing may affect the identification and uniqueness of the CSL in granular soils. Discrete-element simulations are used here to establish the relation between breakage-induced grading evolution and the CSL position in the compression plane. An efficient model of particle breakage is applied to perform a large number of tests, in which grading evolution is continuously tracked using a grading index. Using both previous and new experimental results, the discrete-element model is calibrated and validated to represent Fontainebleau sand, a quartz sand. The results obtained show that, when breakage is present, the inclusion of a grading index in the description of critical states is advantageous. This can be simply done using the critical state plane (CSP) concept. A CSP is obtained for Fontainebleau sand.

The paper presents the development of a three-dimensional finite-element model for pile tests in dense Dunkirk sand, conducted as part of the PISA project. The project was aimed at developing improved design methods for laterally loaded piles, as used in offshore wind turbine foundations. The importance of the consistent and integrated interpretation of the soil data from laboratory and field investigations is particularly emphasised. The chosen constitutive model for sand is an enhanced version of the state parameter-based bounding surface plasticity model, which, crucially, is able to reproduce the dependency of sand behaviour on void ratio and stress level. The predictions from three-dimensional finite-element analyses, performed before the field tests, show good agreement with the measured behaviour, proving the adequacy of the developed numerical model and the calibration process for the constitutive model. This numerical model directly facilitated the development of new soil reaction curves for use in Winkler-type design models for laterally loaded piles in natural marine sands.

Low-to-medium density chalk can be de-structured to soft putty by high-pressure compression, dynamic impact or large-strain repetitive shearing. These process all occur during pile driving and affect subsequent static and cyclic load-carrying capacities. This paper reports undrained triaxial experiments on de-structured chalk, which shows distinctly time-dependent behaviour as well as highly non-linear stiffness, well-defined phase transformation (PT) and stable ultimate critical states under monotonic loading. Its response to high-level undrained cyclic loading invokes both contractive and dilative phases that lead to pore pressure build-up, leftward effective stress path drift, permanent strain accumulation, cyclic stiffness losses and increasing damping ratios that resemble those of silts. These outcomes are relatively insensitive to consolidation pressures and are distinctly different to those of the parent intact chalk. The maximum number of cycles that can be sustained under given combinations of mean and cyclic stresses are expressed in an interactive stress diagram which also identifies conditions under which cycling has no deleterious effect. Empirical correlations are proposed to predict the number of cycles to failure and mean effective stress drift trends under the most critical cyclic conditions. Specimens that survive long-term cycling present higher post-cyclic stiffnesses and shear strengths than equivalent ‘virgin’ specimens.

Glacial tills are widespread across North America, northern and central Asia, and northern Europe where they are also found under the Baltic, North and Norwegian Seas. Their geological and geotechnical characterisation is important to a wide range of onshore and offshore engineering projects. One aspect of tills on which little has been reported is their mechanical anisotropy. This paper reports coordinated hollow cylinder apparatus (HCA) tests, triaxial shearing and small-strain stress probing experiments, supported by index testing, on high-quality samples of a natural low-to-medium plasticity, high OCR, stiff clay-till from the Bolders Bank Formation at Cowden, near Hull in the UK. Material variability and sampling bias is inevitably introduced by the till's erratic gravel particles and fissure systems, and these aspects are addressed carefully. The experiments investigated the till's stiffness and shear strength anisotropy from its limited linear elastic range up to ultimate failure, showing that stiffnesses are higher in the horizontal direction than in the vertical and that higher undrained shear strengths develop under "passive" horizontal loading than "active" vertical loading. Comparisons are made between the till's patterns of anisotropy and those applying to previously studied sediments and reference is made to in-situ stiffness measurements. The important implications of anisotropic behaviour for geotechnical design and the interpretation of field tests are emphasised.