INTERNATIONALJOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS,VOL.

16, 3-23 (1992)

CAVITY EXPANSION I N SANDS UNDER

DRAINED LOADING CONDITIONS
I. F. COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

School of Engineering, University of Auckland, Private Bag, Auckland, New Zealand

SUMMARY

Solutions for the expansion of cylindrical and spherical cavities in sands are presented. The sand is modelled
using recently proposed critical-state models in which the values of the friction and dilation angles depend
on the deformation history. Similarity solutions are obtained which enable the limit pressure to be
calculated as a function of the initial conditions. Comparisons with existing perfectly plastic theories are
made and consequences for the interpretation of cone penetrometer measurements are indicated.

1. INTRODUCTION

The expansion of cylindrical or spherical cavities in an infinite medium is one of the basic
boundary value problems of applied mechanics.'-'3 The solutions to such problems have been of
particular interest in geomechanics where they have been used to develop approximate analyses
of the stresses and deformations induced by driven piles, to interpret the results of pressuremeter
and cone penetrometer tests as well as modelling the opening and closure of tunnel^.'^-^' In the
cone penetrometer and driven pile applications the cavity initially has zero radius and the
resulting strains are large, whilst the initial radius is finite and the induced strains are normally
small in the pressuremeter problem. Norbury and Wheeler2' have shown formally that under
certain material restrictions the cavity expansion solution is the leading term in the asymptotic
expansion of the solution to the wedge or cone penetration problem.
In this paper we are concerned with the large strain solutions for cavities growing from zero
initial radius in cohesionless elastic/plastic materials chosen to model the real behaviour of sands.
Such solutions which grow in a geometrically self-similar manner can also be viewed as the
asymptotic solutions, valid at large times, for cavities which are expanded from a finite starting
radius.
The starting point of the present analysis are the studies by Carter, Booker and Yeung? Collins
and Wang Yan,' and Bigoni and Landiero3 who solved the problem of the expansion of spherical
and cylindrical cavities in an elastic/plastic material, yielding according to the Mohr-Coulomb
yield condition, but with a non-associated flow rule. The dilation and internal friction angles are
hence in general different. These studies include both small and large strain solutions for materials
with either zero or non-zero cohesion. In all cases, however, the material parameters, such as the
internal friction and dilation angle were taken as constants and independent of the deformation
history of the material element. Carter and Yeung' have used finite elements techniques to study
the expansion of a cylindrical cavity in a shear hardening/softening material. Our concern here is
with materials in which the changes in volume rather than shear strains govern the material
properties.
0363-906 1/92/01oO03-23$11 S O
0 1992 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Received 29 January 1991

Revised 8 May 1991

1. F. COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

The pressure in the cavity is constant, when the cavity is expanded from zero radius. This is not
a consequence of the assumption of constant material properties, but will always be true as long
as the problem has no characteristic length scale, so that the expansion occurs in a geometrically
self-similar manner. The ratio of the radii of the elastic/plastic boundary and cavity wall will also
remain constant during such an expansion. This constant pressure can also be viewed as the limit
pressure attained asymptotically as a finite sized cavity is expanded to infinity. The dilation of the
material is an essential part of these solutions so that the simplifications in the analysis of cavity
expansions that can be made for incompressible materials are not applicable here.
The point of departure of the present analysis from that given in reference^^.^,' is that here we
abandon the perfectly plastic assumption, with constant material parameters, and allow the
angles of internal friction and dilation to depend on the deformation history. In plasticity theory
such models would normally be referred to as hardening or softening but in a cohesionless
material there is no material strength parameter with the dimensions of stress which can increase
or decrease, yielding is governed by the magnitudes of the ratios of stress components. The
in which the material
material model used is that recently used by a number of
response depends on a state parameter, which depends both on the current specific volume and
mean stress. This model has been used to successfully explain the markedly different observed
behaviour of sheared specimens of sand initially at the same voids ratio but at different confining
pressures and vice versa.
2. THE STATE PARAMETER MODEL
One of the basic assumptions of the model is the existence of a critical state at which the sand
deforms without any plastic volume change so that the dilation angle is zero. In recent years the
term steady state has gained in popularity.2zThe differences,if any, between the steady-state and
critical-state lines are certainly small and have no effect on the ideas discussed here. We prefer the
term critical state as it more properly describes a constitutive property. The critical-state line is a
straight line in the v-ln p diagram as illustrated in Figure 1, where v is the specific volume and p,

P = P1

In (P/Pl)
Figure 1. Critical-state line and state parameter

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

is the mean effective pressure. The equation of the critical-state line is hence

+ Aln(p/pl) = rl

(1)

rl is the intercept on the p = pl, or In(p/p,) = 0 axis, and hence its value depends on the choice
of the non-dimensionalising reference pressure p l . In analysing test data it is usual to take p1 to be
1 kPa. However in formulating and solving boundary value problems it is preferable to nondimensionalise the pressure in (1) by a stress representative of the particular problem under study,
such as for a field pressure or an elastic modulus. If the non-dimensionalising stress is changed
from p1 to p2, the intercept is changed from rl to
r2 = l-1 + W P l / P , )

(2)
The basic constitutive assumption is now made that the behaviour and properties of the sand
prior to the achievement of a critical state, depend both on the specific volume and the mean
pressure but through the single composite state ~ a r a m e t e r : ~ ~ - ~ *

6 = v + 121n(p/pl) - rl

(34

Thus in Figure 1 if Q(v, p) represents the current state of the sand, 5 is the amount by which the
specific volume must be decreased to reach the critical state at the same mean efective pressure p.
The state parameter is zero on the critical-state line and lines of constant 5 are parallel to the
critical-state line. If this line through Q(v, p) intersects the u-axis at uA, then

5 = V L - rl

(3b)

Note if the non-dimensionalising stress p1 is changed to p 2 , the whole figure is translated laterally
through a distance ln(p,/p,), but the value of the state parameter is unaltered. States above
(5 > O)/below (6 < 0) the Critical-state line are termed loose/dense, respectively since the
specific volumes are greaterfless than that which the material deforms at constant plastic volume
for the given confining pressure.
The plastic volume change will be positive (compaction) in a loose state but will be negative
(dilation) in a state on the denseside of critical. This model allows specimens at the same specific
volume to exhibit loose or dense behaviour, since increasing the confining pressure at constant
u eventually transforms a dense state into a loose one.
It is of interest to note in passing that although they are widely accepted in critical-state soil
mechanics, there is a fundamental objection to working with constitutive equations which involve
stresses non-dimensionalised by arbitrarily chosen reference pressures as in (3a). Whilst this
objection applies equally to cohesive and cohesionless models, it is particularly graphic in the
latter, Suppose we wish to propose an yield function for an isotropic, cohesionless material,
appropriate for plane strain or uniaxial compression, where there are two active, effective
principal stress components oi, and o;, say, and which in addition depends on the specific
volume. Since the material is cohesionless, there is no material yield stress so that on dimensional
grounds the yield function must be of the form

f @i/o;,U) = 0

(44

In a general three-dimensional stress state, the stress ratio would be replaced by a dimensionless
combination of stress invariants (e.g. Lade and Duncan29use Z;/i3 to fit their experimental data,
whilst Matsuokas mobilised shear plane mode130 predicts the combination I , Z2/i3). However in
the critical-state models it is supposed that the yield condition is of the form

f ( o i / 4 , t )= 0

(4b)

I. F. COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

where the state parameter t, given by (3a) involves the mean stress and not the stress ratio aJo; in
violation of (4a). The use of the reference pressure p1 in (3a) to non-dimensionalisethe arguments
of the logarithm does not solve this paradox, since if it were permitted to introduce reference
pressures in this way, (4a) could be rewritten as

f (a;lPl?U P l , 0) = 0

(W

and the dependence on a; and aj would be arhitrary, making a nonsense of the dimensional
analysis argument.
The way out of this paradox is to replace the arbitrary referencepressure p1 in the definition of
the state parameter 5 by a quantity with dimensions of stress which actually has a definite
physical significance. One candidate for such a stress would be the elastic shear modulus Galthough this is open to the objection that its physical significance has nothing to do with the
plastic yielding of the material and would not be present in a rigid/plastic model.
For clays at least the form of the state parameter 5 is determined by the nature of the normal
consolidation curve. The objections to this relation on dimensional grounds do not apply when
the consolidation equation is expressed in differential form, i.e.

but only appear upon integration, when some reference pressure must be introduced. This
relation is only valid over the intermediate range of voids ratios. The (u, p) relation must deviate
from (5) at both sufficiently low and sufficiently high specific volumes. In this intermediate
interval the crushing strength of individual grains may perhaps be the most appropriate choice of
reference pressure.
has recently developed a theory similar to that used here in
which the deformation is regarded as the sum of that produced by the rearrangement of the
granules and of that due to the distortion of the individual grains. The latter is governed by the
hardness of the grains and hence introduces a reference stress describing their strength. Whilst the
assignment of a physical significance to the reference pressure is necessary when comparing the
behaviour of two types of material, it is not needed when using experimental data to describe a
particular material.
3. YIELD CONDITION AND FLOW RATE
Been and JefferiesZ4show that by comparing data from a diversity of sand types there is a good
correlation when the difference between the angle of internal friction at a given state and the
corresponding angle at the critical state is plotted against the state parameter-see their Figure 16
reproduced here as Figure 2. For the purposes of the calculations presented here this variation is
represented by the curve
cp

- cpc =f(t)= ACexp( - a - 11

(4)

where cpc is the internal angle of friction at the critical state and A is a parameter in the range

04-0-95depending on the type of sand (the angles are measured in radians).

The corresponding flow rule is defined by specifying the relationship between the dilation angle

+ and the friction angle cp or the state parameter <.B01ton~~

has suggested a relatively simple flow
rule in which the difference between the angles of internal friction in (6) is equal to 0.8 times the
dilation angle so that

+ = d5)

= (544)Cexp( -

t) - 11

(7)

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

48r

24.

Hokksund sand (NG I )

Monlerey no. 0 sand (Lade, 1972)
I

J e ~ e 1 has
1 ~ ~recently shown that this law is effectively identical with Rowes stress dilatancy
equation and also Taylors plane strain saw-tooth model up to dilation angles of 20. The values
of the friction and dilation angles in plane strain differ from those pertaining under triaxial
conditions. The relationship between these two sets of angles depends on the assumed form of the
full three-dimensional yield function and plastic potential. The differences however are small, for
example WrothIg has argued, on the basis of Matsuokas3 failure criteria, that the ratio of the
plane strain to triaxial compression friction angles is approximately 9: 8. Similarly, Moust
Jacobsen3 estimates that this ratio is of the order of 1.1 : 1-a figure which is recommended in the
Danish Code of Practicefor Foundation Engineering. In view of this small difference and the scatter
in the data represented by (6), it was decided that it would not be meaningful to attempt to
distinguish between the plane strain and triaxial values of cp and $ in the present study.
4. THE CAVITY EXPANSION PROBLEM

The basic formalism and notation is based on that used by Carter et a14 We shall consider both
cylindrical and spherical cavities and use the parameter k which is put equal to 1 for a cylindrical
cavity and 2 for a spherical cavity. The cavity is expanded from zero radius in a medium initially
subject to the hydrostatic stress state po and at a uniform specific volume v o . In this problem the
sand is either supposed to be dry so that we do not have to distinguish between effective and total
stresses, or expanded under drained conditions so that the pore pressure is effectively constant
and can be subtracted out of the analysis. In the latter case all stresses should be interpreted as
effective stresses. (There is hence no need to continue with the dashed notation for effective
stresses.) At time t, the radius of the cavity is a and that of the elastic/plastic boundary is R. Thus
for r > R the deformation is purely elastic, but for a < r c R there are both elastic and plastic
strains. In both regions the radial and hoop stresses satisfy the equilibrium equation

I. F. COLLINS. M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

with or= ocon the cavity wall and or+ p o as r + 00 . For a spherical cavity o, = ogby symmetry
so that each material element is subject to triaxial compression as in the standard triaxial test.
Thus test data obtained from such a test are directly applicable to the spherical cavity problem,
but assumptions have to be made to apply such data to the plane strain analysis as discussed in
the previous section.
If w is the radial velocity component, the principal components of the rate of deformation (rate
of strain) tensor are

where compressive strains are taken to be positive. For spherical symmetry e, = e, and in plane
strain e, = 0.
The linear elastic stress-strain relations can be written in matrix form:

i.e. CT = Lce where (E;, .$) are the elastic (small) strain components. G is the elastic shear modulus
and v is Poissons ratio, the small strains being defined by

u being the radial displacement. In the elastic zone the strains are small and the strain rate in (9)

can be regarded as the local time derivatives of the strains in (11). However, this is not true in the
elastic/plastic regime where the strains can be very large. The relation between e, and 8, etc has
been discussed in this context by Collins and Wang Yan.7 In the elastic/plastic regime the
constitutiveequation is formulated in rate form in terms of the strain rates in (9),so that the elastic
law (10) becomes
V
Q

= Leg

( W

where G denotes the Jaumann stress rate. However, since in this problem the spin is everywhere
zero this stress rate reduces to the ordinary material derivative:

where 6 is the local derivative evaluated at a fixed position r. (The convected part of this stress
rate was neglected in the analysis of Carter et uL4-as was shown in Reference 7 this can produce
differences in the prediction of the limit pressures of up to 15 per cent.)
The angle of internal friction is defined by

so that the stress ratio

N = (o,/o,)

= (1

+ sin cp)/(l- sin cp)

(15)

The corresponding flow rule parameter is

M = - (kei/er) = (1 + sin@)/(l - sin$)

(16)

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

where ep are the plastic strain rates and Ifi is the dilation angle. It is important to note that N and
M will both be functions of the state parameter 5 using (4) or (5) and hence will vary with the
deformation. The rate law (12a) can be rewritten in terms of plastic strain rates as

6 = L(e - ep)

(12b)

The flow rule (16) can then be used to eliminate the plastic strain rates between the two equations
in (12b) to yield the single equation

aw + -k w

ar

Mr

[A(M)&,+ B(M)&,]/2G

.-

where (9) has been used to express the total strain rates in terms of velocity components, whilst A
and B, which are functions of M and hence of the state parameter 5, are given by

A ( M ) = [(l - 2 ~ ) kv(M - l)/M]/[l

(k - l ) ~ ]
B ( M ) = [k(l - v)/M - kv]/[l + (k - l ) ~ ]

(18)

Since N also depends on the state parameter 5, the rate form of the yield condition (15) is
b,

+(N'/N)io,

= N&,g

(19)
where N' = dN/d<. Since the state parameter depends on the specific volume and mean effective
pressure, its material derivative is given by

t = t,,; + 5,,i

(20)

where the comma denotes a partial derivative. For the form of the state parameter proposed by
Been and Jefferies and defined in equation (3)

t,, = 1;

t,, = 4 P

(21)

Since b/u is the total volumetric strain rate, it follows that

G=

- u(e,

:( ":)

+ ke,) = u -+-

whilst the material derivative of p is given by

i = (6, + k&e)/(l + k)

(23)
Equations (19)-(23) can now be used to express both 6 0 and in terms of irand w, u, 5, so that the
constitutive equation (17) and state evolutionary equation (20) become

and

i[l

+ kt,,N'a,/(l + k)N2] = 05,"

+ &,<,,(N+.k)/(l + k)N

(25)

10

I. F. COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

5. SOLUTION PROCEDURE
5.1. The solution in the elastic region

In the outer elastic zone (8), (10) and (11) can be solved to find the elastic stress components
which must be superposed upon the existing isotropic stress state p o . The only solution for a
displacement field which remains bounded as r -+ 00 is u = Br-k, which has an associated zero
volume strain. The specific volume of a material element is hence unchanged by the elastic
deformation and is still uo when a material particle enters the plastically deforming region.
Following Carter et al. and Hughes et al.36we shall write this displacement in the elastic region as
U = E ~ ( ; ) k R
where E~ is the circumferential strain at the elastic/plastic boundary ( r = R ) . The radial and
circumferential stress components are given by
6,= P o

-k 2 G k & ~ ( R / r ) ~ + ' ;Uo = P o

-2G&~(R/r)~+l

(27)

so that the mean pressure, and hence the state parameter 5, are both unaltered by the elastic
deformation. At the elastic/plastic boundary ar/co= N o where N o = N ( 5 , ) corresponds to the
initial value of 5, so that from (27) we deduce that
&R = ( N O -

l)pO/(NO

+ k)2G

(28)

whilst the radial stress at the elastic/plastic boundary is

OR

= f1

+ k)NOpO/(NO + k,

(29)

These provide the outer boundary conditions for the solution in the elastic/plastic region.

5.2. Similarity solution in the elasticlptastic zone

If the initial radius of the cavity is zero, the problem has no characteristic length, since the
problem-defining parameters are the dimensionlessvariables 1,rl,v and u,; and G and p o , both
of which have dimensions of stress. The deformation must hence proceed in a geometrically selfsimilar manner and the ratio of the radius of the elastic/plastic boundary to the cavity wall radius
@/a) must remain constant, its value depending on the above problem defining parameters. The
velocity, stress components and state parameter must hence depend on r and t through the
dimensionless radial co-ordinate

(30)
where W = R is the speed of expansion of the elastic/plastic boundary. W can be taken to be a
constant since the elastic/plastic constitutive equations are rate independent. We could equally
well choose to non-dimensionalise r by the cavity wall radius a, but it proves to be computationally more convenient to choose R since more information is known about the dependent
= r/R = r/Wt

variables at the elastic/plastic boundary than is known at the cavity wall. The velocity and stress
components are non-dimensionalised similarly:

w=w/w,

5 = a/p,

(31)

At the elastic/plastic boundary

C,(1) = (1

+ k)No/(No + k )

(32)

11

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

from (29). Differentiating (26) with respect to t and putting r = R the speed of a material particle
currently on the elastic/plastic boundary is seen to be (k l)+fi, so that

$(I) = ( k + 11% = [ ( N o - l)(k + 1MNo + k)I (Po/~G)

(33)

On the cavity wall the material particle speed is ci. However, by geometrical similarity,u/R = a/R
so that the cavity wall is located at the point where

(34)

@(?) = ?

All the various derivatives which occur in the governing equations can now be expressed in terms
of d/dq, using (30):
(

ajar = ( a / a q ) / ~ ;

'

) = - wq(a/a?)/~; (

w (-~q ) ( a / a q ) / ~

(35)

The last relation comes from non-dimensionalising the standard relation between material and
local derivatives as used in (13) for example. We now have a system of ordinary differential
equations to solve. In terms of these dimensionless variables the equilibrium equation become

whilst the constitutive equation (24) and state parameter evolutionary equation (25) become

and

respectively, where A ( M ) and B ( M ) are given by (18) and

C(t) = [l

- AN'/(N

+k)]/N;

D ( < ,U) = u N ' / N Z

and

E ( t ) = [l

+ AkN'/N(N + k ) ]

Equations (36)-(37) were solved as the system

9,5 ) using a standard NAG library differential equation solver.

for the solution vector xT =
At each stage of the solution the specific volume in (38) is calculated from

u =t

+ rl - Aln[~,(p,/p,)(N +' k)/N(l + k)l

(40)

which follows from (3a) and (15). Note that there are two independent problem-defining stress
ratios which can be formed from the initial and reference pressures and the elastic shear modulus
occurring in (39). The starting values for the dependent variables pertaining at the elastic/plastic
boundary q = 1 are given by (32) and (33) for zr and iij, whilst the initial value of the state
parameter is
t o = vo

- rl + WPO/Pl)

(41)

12

I. F. COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

The solution is halted when the cavity wall is reached and W = ij [cf. (34)]. In order to effect this
stopping condition it proved convenient to replace the independent variable q by 8 = W - q, so
that d/dq = d/dO(dW/dq - 1) and the position of the cavity wall is now at the &origin.
An important point to note about these equations is that the derivative of the state parameter
becomes infinite at the cavity wall, wheie W = q, in equation (38) unless dG/dq + kW/q vanishes.
This is consistent with the constitutive equation [(17) or (37)] only if M = 1, which means that
the material has reached the critical state and t = 0. This result can be understood physically as
follows. Since the ratio of the radius of the cavity wall to that of the elastic/plastic boundary
remains constant during the deformation, a material element on the cavity wall must remain at
the same state during the deformation, Since the cavity pressure and state parameter are hence
both constant, the specific volume must also remain fixed. The deformation of a material element
at the cavity wall hence occurs at constant volume. However the elastic component of the total
volumetric strain rate is zero since the pressure is constant. It follows therefore that the plastic
part of the volumetric strain rate is also zero. The material at the cavity wall is hence at the critical
state.
6. DISCUSSION O F RESULTS

6.1. Distribution of stress and voids ratio through plastic annulus

Curves showing the variation of the dimensionless mean pressure p/2G and the voids ratio e,
starting at the initial values (po/2G, e,) at the elastic/plastic boundary and ending up on the
critical state line at the cavity wall are shown in Figure 3. Although these graphs are presented in
dimensionless form, it must be remembered that the solution also depends on the ratio of G/p, .
Initially we are concerned with the qualitative nature of the solutions which can adequately be
discussed with reference to Figure 3, in which the elastic shear modulus is held constant at
25000 kPa, and the slope A of the critical state line in the [u, ln(p/p,)] plane is 0.029.Since the
solutions obtained represent geometrically self-similar deformations, these curves can either be
thought of as describing the variation of p/2G and e through the plastically deforming region at a

Figure 3. Variation of voids ratio e and dimensionless mean effective stress (p/2G)through the elastic/plastic annulus for
various initial conditions ( A = 0.029, G = 25,000 kPa), (a) cylindrical cavity (b) spherical cavity

13

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

$xed time, or as the variation of these quantities associated with a given material particle as it
moves through the expanding plastically deforming annulus from the elastic interface to the
cavity wall.
The mean pressure increases monotonically from the elastic/plastic boundary to the cavity
wall, so that the elastic part of the volumetric strain rate will always be compressive. The plastic
part of the volumetric strain rate is of course dilational, for states on the dense side of critical but
compressive on the loose side. The voids ratio must therefore always decrease in loose states, but
can vary either way on the dense side of critical depending on the relative magnitudes of the
elastic and plastic volumetric strain rates.
As can be seen from the figure, when the initial state is sufficiently far into the dense region, the
total volumetric strain is initially effectively zero until some critical point is reached at which the
voids ratio starts to increase until the critical-state line is reached. Hence in the outer part of the
elastic/plastic annulus the elastic compaction and plastic dilation effectively cancel each other
out. This is because in this region the deformation is still constrained by the outer elastic material
which is deforming at constant volume. As the material particle approaches the cavity wall, this
influence diminishes and the material is now free to expand plastically. However for initially
dense states closer to critical, the elastic strains initially dominate. If e, 0.7 the material element
reaches a critical state before getting to the cavity wall, crosses into the loose zone, but then
returns to the critical-state line at a lower voids ratio. By contrast, for an initially more compacted
material, with e, 0.6, the initial elastic compression is later swamped by the plastic dilation and
the material element ends up a critical state with a voids ratio appreciably greater than e,.
If the initial state is on the loose side of critical, the voids ratio decreases until the critical state
line is attained. If this occurs before the cavity wall is reached the state of the element crosses into
the dense regime and the elastic compression is ultimately dominated by the plastic dilation and
the ultimate critical state is attained at an even smaller voids ratio. Even if the sand is initially at
the critical state it is possible for a material particle to go into the dense region before returning to
the critical-state line at a lower voids ratio.

6.2. Comparison with perfectly plastic solution

The importance of including the variation of the internal friction and dilation angles in the
cavity expansion model can be assessed by comparing the predictions of the cavity wall pressure
from the present theory with those given by the perfectly plastic solutions given by Carter et aL4
or Collins and Wang. A representative comparison is made in Figure 4. The shear modulus is set
at 25,000 kPa and the initial specific volume at 1.6. The initial values of the state parameter to,
internal friction angle cp, and dilation angle Jl, are then determined by the value of p o . The values
of the cavity wall pressure calculated from the perfectly plastic model in which cp and $ are held
fixed at their initial values are seen to overestimate the values predicted by the present criticalstate theory. The percentage error being larger for smaller values of initial effective pressure
[more than 100 per cent for values of (p0/2G) less than
Very much better agreement is
obtained if the average values of cp and $ are used in the perfectly plastic computation. Since the
cavity wall is known to be at the critical state, these mean values are simply (cp, + cpJ2 and $,/2,
respectively.

6.3. Influence of the variation of the elastic shear modulus

In the above discussion it was assumed that the value of G can be chosen independently of the
other problem-defining parameters. However the elastic shear modulus is known to have a strong
dependence on the values of the voids ratio and mean effective pressure. A widely used empirical

14

.ooOol

I. F. COLLINS, M.J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

.ooO1

,001

.Ol

.I

.OOOOl

.ooO1

,001

.I

.01

POIZG

POIZG

Figure 4. Comparison of predicted variation of cavity wall pressure with far field hydrostatic pressure using (1)-present
critical-state model (2). . . perfectly plastic model with initial values of friction and dilation angles, and (3)-.-.-.
perfectly plastic model but with averaged values of friction and dilation angles. (a) cylindrical cavity (b) spherical cavity

formula for dry sands under isotropic confinement has been discussed by Richart et aL3:

G = S [ ( e , - e)2/(1 + e)]p12

(42)
where e, is a dimensionless constant with values ranging from 2.17 for round-grained sands to
2.97 for sands with angular grains. The corresponding range for the constant S is 6.90-3-23 x lo3
(kPa)12. The simplest micromechanical models based upon hertzian contact predict a p13
dependency for G. Modificitions to these models which include the effects of buckling of particle
chains have recently been made by G ~ d d a r dThese
. ~ ~ theories predict the observed square-root
pressure dependency at least at low pressures.
Relation (42) has been used to calculate G o , the initial value of the elastic shear modulus in the
elastic region, and to update the value of this parameter as a particle moves through the
elastic/plastic annulus when solving the governing system of equations (39). The ratio of the
values of the shear modulus at the cavity wall to that at the elastic/plastic boundary is typically
around 10. The main effects of allowing for the variation in the value of G is to decrease the
magnitudes both of the elastic and plastic volume strains-this effect being more marked for
spherical rather than cylindrical cavities-and also to decrease slightly the value of a/R for a
given set of initial conditions (see Figure 5).
The variation of G with e and p has little effect on the e-ln p plots as previously illustrated in
Figure 3. Representativee-ln p plots for two particular sands are shown in Figure 6. The values of
the critical-state parameters are taken from data given by Been and J e f f e r i e ~and
~ ~Been et ~ l . * ~
and reproduced here in Table I. Kogyuk and Monterey No. 0 sands represent the two extreme
values of &-the slope of the critical-state line. The variation of the elastic shear modulus has been
calculated from (42).
The general form of these figures is similar to the dimensionless plots in Figure 3. The far-field
conditions have been chosen so as to give initial values of the state parameter of - 1.0, - 05,00
and 05. The shape of the e-ln p curves is seen to depend not only on the initial values of the state
parameter but also on the initial voids ratio (or effective pressure). As explained below this fact
has important consequences for the interpretation of cone penetrometer measurements. It should
also be noticed that even if the sand is initially at a critical state, the state of the material element

15

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

volumeuic strain
0.05

-0.10

.001

.o 1

.1

r/R

volumetric strain
"."J

0.00

-0.05

-0.10

-0.15
.001

.01

.1

r/R
Figure 5. Variation of positive elastic and negative plastic volumetric strains through elastiq'plastic annulus;(1) keeping
G constant; (2) varying G using equation (42):(a) cylindrical cavity (b) spherical cavity (Monterey No 0 sand, e, = 0 5 ,
p o = los kPa)

deviates away from critical as it moves through the expanding plastic annulus and returns to the
critical-state line but at a lower voids ratio when it finally reaches the cavity wall. At low pressures
this deviation is into the loose side of critical, but at higher pressures ( 2 lo5 kPa) the reverse
occurs and the material element moves through states which are denser than critical. Such higher
pressures are of course unlikely to be of interest in practice.
6.4. Relevance of results to interpretation of penetrometer tests

A detailed discussion of the relevance of the results of these cavity expansion calculations to the
interpretation of cone penetrometer tests will be given in a future paper. Only a number of
preliminary results will be discussed here.
Of particular relevance is the value of oc/po,the ratio of the cavity wall pressure to the far-field
mean effective stress. This ratio corresponds to the normalised tip resistance in a penetrometer

16

I. F.COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

(b)
Figure 6. a, b (Continued)

test normally written as (qc - p')/p' for dry sands and (qc - p)/p' for drained tests on saturated
sands, qc being the tip resistance. In the notation used in this paper p' = p o , the effectivestress at
infinity, whilst p is equal to po plus the constant pore pressure. In practice, p' and p are small
compared with qc, so that in both situations the normalised tip resistance is effectivelyequal to
4clP'.

17

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

n7

- -...\

0.7

-u\

0.5 4

0.4

0.3

- ..-- - ..----I- - -.....

*

= =.--I

- . -*

....-. -

I.*-

The variation of the ratio cr,/p0 with the initial value of the state parameter tofor four different
starting effective pressures p o for some particular sands is shown in Figure 7. It is immediately
apparent that this ratio is a function not only of the initial stateof the sand, as characterised by
the state parameter, but also depends significantly on the initial effective pressure. This is
consistent with the empirical findings of Sladen2* who observed that the normalised tip

18

I. F. COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

a
u

--0'
p'

19

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

1
8:

rl.4

:!I7
Cr

P,
0

c
0

0'

0029
0054
0.066
0028
0065
0056

Hokksund sand

Kogyuk sand

Ottawa sand

Reid Bedford sand

Ticino sand

Monterey no. 0 sand

Sand type

1.986

2.014

1.754

1.849

1.934

1.878

rl

31

32

28.5

31

32

32

4,(deg)

060

063

0.95

0.75

080

0.83

Subrounded

Subangular

Rounded

Subangular

Subangular

Subrounded

k=l
k=2

k=l
k=2

k=l
k=2

k=l
k=2

k=l
k=2

k=l
k=2

A(rad) Grain description Cavity category

c2

c3

5.453 x lo5 - 0702 0.268

2 . 0 1 2 ~ 1 0 ~ -0.875 0326

5.142
6481

4.996
6.207

0265
0.314

5.039 x lo5
1.539 x 10'

- 0.711
- 0.871

6835
8.658

5397
6.945

5.609
6.915

6.017
7.426

c4

r,

4 . 0 6 8 ~ 1 0 ~-0804 0.361
2.663 x lo* - 1'012 0.450

5 . 1 5 2 ~ 1 0 ~-0732 0.296
2.247 x lo7 - 0929 0.374

1 . 2 6 3 ~ 1 0 ~-0756 0296
4.279 x lo7 - 0.918 0.349

2 3 1 8 ~ 1 0 ~-0.766 0313
9-382 x lo7 - 0.938 0374

C1

Table I. Empirical state parameters and cl coefficients in uc(po,uo) relation-Equation (43) for various sands (N.B. These values of 1and
apply when the logarithm in Equation (3) is taken to the base 10)

-e

e
4Q

CAVITY EXPANSION IN SANDS

21

resistance-state parameter relationship was not unique but varied systematically with the mean
stress level.
Any two of the initial parameter values vo, po or toare sufficient to define the initial conditions,
the three parameters being related by (3a). If vo, po are chosen as the base parameters, the results
illustrated in Figure 7 can be approximated by relations of the form
b,/Po

= ClPO

(CZ +CJUO)

exp ( - c 4 v 0 )

(43)

The values of the four constants c1-c4 for different sands are given in Table I. The corresponding
relations applicable when toand either uo or p o are used to define the initial conditions can be
simply obtained from (3a).

7. CONCLUSIONS
The important conclusions to be drawn from this investigation are:
1. The use of similarity assumptions, which are appropriate when cavities are expanded from
zero initial radius, enables problems which incorporate more realistic, deformation dependent,
constitutive models to be readily tractable.
2. The material elements at the cavity wall are always at the critical state. Even if the sand is
initially at a critical condition, it will compact and end up at a denser critical state.
3. Allowing for the variation of the friction and dilation angles through the expanding plastic
annulus reduces the predicted values of the cavity wall pressure significantly. Much better
agreement with perfectly plastic models can be obtained if average values of these two angles are
used.
4. The value of the ratio of the cavity wall pressure to the initial effective stress, which
corresponds to the normalised tip resistance in a cone penetrometer test, depends not only on the
initial value of the state parameter, but also on the initial value of the voids ratio (or effective
pressure).
In this paper we have concentrated on presenting the theory and the general results of the
analysis. More detailed comparisons of the predictions of this theory with experimental cone
penetrometer measurements on particular sands will be presented elsewhere.
Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to Transit New Zealand for financial support of this project.

NOTATION
radius of cavity wall
voids ratio
radial and circumferential strain-rate components
plastic components of radial and circumferential strain-rate components
elastic shear modulus
equal to 1 for a cylindrical cavity and 2 for a spherical cavity
matrix of elastic moduli
[ = - keg/ef = (1 sin $)/(1 - sin $)I
[ = cs,/ao = (1 + sin rp)/(l - sin rp)]

22

8
cp
cpC

I. F.COLLINS, M. J. PENDER AND WANG YAN

mean effective pressure

initial pressure in undisturbed sand
reference pressure in critical-state model
tip resistance in cone penetrometer tests
radius of elastic/plastic boundary
time
radial displacement component
specific volume ( = 1 + e)
radial velocity component
speed of expansion of elastic/plastic boundary ( = R / t )
non-dimensional radial velocity ( = w / W)
radial and circumferential strain components
circumferential strain at elastic/plastic boundary [ = ( N o - l)po/(No + k ) 2 G ]
slope of critical-state line
Poissons ratio
dimensionless radial coordinate [ = ( r / R ) ]
radial and circumferential effective stress components
radial stress at elastic/plastic boundary [ = N,(1 + k ) p o / ( N o+ k ) ]
dimensionless stress components [ = or/po,6, = oe/po]
local effective stress rate
material effective stress rate
Jaumann effective stress rate
state parameter
intercept of critical-state line on specific volume axis where the pressure is equal
to the reference pressure
modified independent variable in similarity equations ( = W - q )
angle of internal friction
angle of internal friction at critical state
dilation angle
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