A high-cycle accumulation model for sand

A high-cycle explicit model for the accumulation of strain in sand due to small cyclic loading is presented. The dependence of the accumulation rate on stress, void ratio, cyclic history and the type of loading is discussed. In particular, the ovality and the polarization of the strain path during a cycle are considered. Attention is given to the theoretical aspects of the constitutive description of the cumulative settlement and to the FE-implementation. The essential experimental results are also presented. Finally, an example of an FE-analysis of a strip foundation under cyclic vertical loading is given.