Modeling of cyclic mobility in saturated cohesionless soils

Cyclic mobility is exhibited by saturated medium to dense cohesionless soils during liquefaction, due to soil skeleton dilation at large shear strain excursions. This volume-shear coupling mechanism results in phases of significant regain in soil shear stiffness and strength, and limits the magnitude of cyclic shear deformations. Motivated by experimental observations, a plasticity model is developed for capturing the characteristics of cyclic mobility. This model extends an existing multi-surface plasticity formulation with newly developed flow and hardening rules. The new flow rule allows for reproducing cyclic shear strain accumulation, and the subsequent dilative phases observed in liquefied soil response. The new hardening rule enhances numerical robustness and efficiency. A model calibration procedure is outlined, based on monotonic and cyclic laboratory sample test data.