Elastic-viscoplastic model for normally consolidated clays

This paper briefly reviews the loading rate sensitivity of normally-consolidated clays. Emphasis is placed on undrained creep behaviour. A general approach is described for the constitutive modelling of the mechanical response of a `wet' clay for a wide range of stresses and loading rates. Simplifications are introduced for clay modelling that take into account typical loading rates. An example is presented which demonstrates the appropriateness of the model for the class of problem addressed.