Application of Micromechanics Model to Study Anisotropy of Soils at Small Strains

A micromechanics model is used to analyse the stiffness anisotropy of soils at small strains. Five material constants for a cross-anisotropic elastic material are related to micromechanics variables such as fabric anisotropy, contact stiffness, particle radius, and the number of contacts in a given volume of particulate assembly. The analytical results from the model are compared with the published experimental data on small-strain stiffness anisotropy in order to estimate typical soil fabric conditions of sands and clays. The relationship between the small-strain shear modulus obtained from triaxial tests and shear tests is examined using the micromechanics model. The analysis shows that, when a soil is stiffer in the horizontal direction, the shear modulus evaluated from the conventional triaxial drained tests underestimates G_vh and G_hh. The opposite is true when a soil is stiffer in the vertical direction. When a soil is sheared in undrained condition, the measured shear modulus is closer to G_vh than G_hh, especially when the soil is stiffer in the horizontal direction. The effect of soil anisotropy on the stiffness measured from different stress paths in triaxial condition is investigated.