Critical-state-based Mohr-Coulomb plasticity model for sands

This paper presents a refined Mohr-Coulomb model for sands based on the critical state theory. The refined model adjusts a dilatancy angle based on the state parameter with respect to the critical state line. Furthermore, a friction angle is decomposed into the critical state friction angle and a portion of the dilatancy angle to capture the peak phenomenon of dilative sands. The elemental simulations of the drained and undrained triaxial compression tests on Toyoura sand using the refined model showed much better performance than the conventional Mohr-Coulomb model. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.