Argillaceous Hard Soils – Weak Rocks MFront Model.

Argillaceous Hard Soils – Weak Rocks model by @MManicaM.

The Argillaceous Hard Soils – Weak Rocks (AHW) model is intended for the simulation of indurated argillaceous materials. The model is formulated within the framework of elasto-viscoplasticity, but enhanced with the “plasticity-creep partition approach”, where an additional inelastic deformation component is considered in the strain decomposition to characterise creep deformations. The model includes a number of features that are considered relevant for the satisfactory description of these materials, such as a nonlinear yield criterion, strength and stiffness anisotropy, a non-associated flow rule, rate-dependency, strain hardening/softening, creep deformations, permeability increase with damage, and a nonlocal regularisation for the objective simulation of localised deformations. Nevertheless, these two last features are not yet included in the current version. A detailed description of the model, as well as its application in the simulation of underground excavations, can be consulted in the references listed below.

Mánica, M. (2018). “Analysis of underground excavations in argillaceous hard soils - weak rocks.”, PhD thesis, Technical University of Catalonia.

Mánica, M. A., Ciantia, M. O., and Gens, A. (2020). “On the stability of underground caves in calcareous rocks due to long-term weathering.” Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering, 53, 3885–3901.

Mánica, M. A., Gens, A., Vaunat, J., Armand, G., and Vu, M. N. (2021). “Numerical simulation of underground excavations in an indurated clay using non-local regularisation. Part 1: Formulation and base case.” Geotechnique, 1–21.

Mánica, M. A., Gens, A., Vaunat, J., Armand, G., and Vu, M. (2021). “Numerical simulation of underground excavations in an indurated clay using non-local regularisation. Part 2: sensitivity analysis.” Géotechnique, 1–16.