Nonlinear solution for cylindrical cavity expansion in strain-softening geomaterials

Abstract This study presents a nonlinear solution for cavity expansion on the basis of unified strength theory, and considers the influence of strain-softening and drained condition. By assuming that the small-strain in elastic region, and large-strain in softening and plastic flow region, instead of, the assumption of elastic region and plastic region were usually used in calculation. The initial stress may be anisotropic due to the influence of the initial consolidation of geomaterials. Besides, a drained cylindrical cavity expansion analysis definitely will be more suitable for the interpretation of in situ soil testing in geomaterials with very high permeability. In the end, some data are conducted to verify the suitability of this study. The research results provide a theoretical basis for the analysis of cavity expansion in geomaterials with very high permeability, and have a certain reference value for similar engineering designs.