Combined computational-experimental Laboratory Testing for Soil Behiavor

Solving complex boundary value problems in geotechnical engineering requires a soil constitutive model that reliably captures soil behavior under general loading conditions. Laboratory testing has greatly contributed to the development of constitutive models that reflect soil nonlinear and anisotropic behavior. Available laboratory tests are interpreted assuming uniform stress and strain states within a tested specimen and therefore provide information on material behavior within a narrow range of stress-strain paths and do not cover general loading conditions which occur in field problems. This paper presents the integration of self-learning simulations (SelfSim) inverse analysis framework with laboratory testing to extract soil-behavior. Application of this framework to Direct Simple Shear (DSS) tests shows that it is possible to characterize soil behavior over a wide range of stress paths from a single test. The paper also describes the development of a modified triaxial testing device intended to impose non-uniform loading conditions to increase the range of stresses and strains that can be extracted via SelfSim. The new device represents an important step towards a tighter integration between laboratory testing and constitutive model development.