Time homogenization for clays subjected to large numbers of cycles

This paper discusses the reliability and the efficiency of a time homogenization method employed to reduce the computational time during cyclic loading for two common geotechnical tests and two elastoplastic models for clays. The method of homogenization is based upon splitting time into two separate scales. The first time scale relates to the period of cyclic loading and the second to the characteristic time of the fatigue phenomenon. The time homogenization method is applied to simulate an undrained triaxial test (homogeneous stress state) and a pressuremeter test (nonhomogeneous stress state) under one-way cyclic loading on normally consolidated clay. This method is coupled with two elastoplastic models dedicated to cyclic behavior of clay (a bounding surface plasticity model and a bubble model). Both linear and nonlinear elasticities are considered. The difficulty encountered when applying this method to models introducing nonlinear elasticity and kinematic hardening is pointed out. The performance of time homogenization related to the main parameters is numerically investigated by comparison with conventional finite element simulations. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.