Analysis and Implementation of Resilient Modulus Models for Granular Solids

Constitutive equations based upon stress dependent moduli, like K- and Uzan-Witczak, are widely used to characterize the resilient response of granular materials for the analysis and design of pavement systems. These constitutive models are motivated by the observation that the granular layers used in pavement structures shake down to (nonlinear) elastic response under construction loads and will, therefore, respond elastically under service loads typically felt by these systems. Due to their simplicity, their great success in organizing the response data from cyclic triaxial tests, and their success relative to competing material models in predicting the behavior observed in the field, these resilient modulus constitutive models have been implemented in many computer programs used by researchers and design engineers. This paper provides an analysis of the nonlinear solution algorithms that have been used in implementing these models in a conventional nonlinear 3D finite-element framework. The analysis shows that these conventional algorithms are destined to fail at higher load levels. The paper offers two competitive methods for global analysis with these models. A comparative study of eight possible implementations of the algorithms described in the paper is made through two simulation examples.