A similarity solution for undrained expansion of a cylindrical cavity in K₀-consolidated anisotropic soils

Abstract

A rigorous and generic similarity solution is developed for assessment of the undrained expansion responses of a cylindrical cavity expansion in K₀-consolidated anisotropic soils. A K₀-consolidated anisotropic modified Cam-clay (K₀-AMCC) model that can represent the initial stress anisotropy and the effects of stress-induced anisotropy is used to model the soil behaviors during cavity expansion. All the seven basic unknowns, the three stress components, the pore water pressure, the particle velocity, the specific volume and the hardening parameter, are reduced to the functions of a dimensionless radial coordinate and are taken as coupled variables to formulate the problem. The governing equations are formulated by making use of the equilibrium equation, the constitutive equation, the consistency condition, the continuity condition and the undrained condition, which are then solved as an initial value problem. The proposed rigorous similarity solution is compared with some well-documented rigorous solutions to validate the solution and to highlight the special expansion responses in anisotropic soils. The results reveal that the present solution can yield more predictions for cavity expansion problems in soils with initial anisotropic stresses.