Significance and Usefulness of the t ij Concept

Abstract

Constitutive models formulated using the stress invariants (p and q) cannot describe uniquely the deformation and strength of geomaterials under three principal stresses [1]. Then, the concept of tij has been proposed to describe uniquely the stress-strain behaviors in general three-dimensional (3D) stress conditions [2]. This concept was found out from the idea that the frictional law essentially governs soil behavior. Since the formulation of elastoplastic model using this concept was described in the previous papers [3, 4], the meaning of this concept and its usefulness are presented in this paper.