Cyclic and monotonic response of silts and clays: experimental analysis and constitutive modelling

An overview about the behaviour of two soft soils (Kaolin Silt and Lower Rhine Clay) under monotonic as well as cyclic loading is presented. Thereby it is shown that especially Kaolin possesses an inherent anisotropy, which can be described by a transformation and through scaling of the tangential stiffness tensor. The AVISA model is enhanced and shows accurate reproduction of the behaviour of these soft soils under cyclic as well as monotonic loading. Through a third strain mechanism the behaviour of both plastic and non-plastic soft soils can be described very well.