The British Geotechnical Association (BGA) is the principal association for geotechnical engineers in the UK.
Past event: Please note this event information is displayed for informational purposes only.
The lecture is based on the paper that won the 2023 BGA Medal.
This event is planned as an in-person event, and will also be webcast live.
Advance booking is required for both in-person attendance and on-line viewing.
This event is free to attend.
The British Geotechnical Association
13.05.2025
18:00 - 19:30
Institution of Civil Engineers, One Great George Street, London SW1P 3AA
Advance booking is required for both in-person attendance and on-line viewing.
BGA Meetings
Tea and Coffee will be available from 17:30
It is well known that the behaviour of sand and clay are, in many ways similar, albeit at different stress levels: normal compression line, critical state line, state boundary surface and so on. We know that the origin of plastic compression of sand lies in the space filling of voids by smaller and smaller particles as they crush; yet the behaviour of clay is so much more complicated because charged platelets can bond together to form macro particles and be pulled apart. This talk presents a new discrete element model for clay, with realistic shaped platelets and different interactions for the different charged surfaces. Simulations of isotropic normal compression and shearing along different stress paths show the existence of a normal compression line, and for the first time a critical state line that is parallel to it in voids ratio: log stress space as well as first insights into a state boundary surface. In addition, evidence of “breakage” of the macro particles during normal compression is observed. These simulations are therefore the first to show many of the key features of macroscopic clay behaviour and hold promise for exploring further little-understood features such as hysteresis and creep.
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