Simplifying calibration of bonded elasto-plastic models

Using realistic constitutive models for artificially cemented soils is advantageous in design. However, the price of that increased realism is often a more elaborate model, which is difficult to calibrate. A database of high quality triaxial tests on compacted cemented silty sand is used to calibrate and validate a generalized critical state bonded soil model. The exercise highlights the staged calibration procedure that is convenient in this kind of application. The calibration results have shown a direct relation between added yield strength and a well-established soil–cement mixture ratio, which facilitates the application of the model in design. It is shown that such relation can be also deduced from the analysis of unconfined compressive strength tests.