Modelling of Shear Zones in Granular Materials within Hypoplasticity

This paper presents a FE-analysis of shear localization in granular bodies with a finite element method based on a hypoplastic constitutive law. The law can reproduce essential features of granular bodies in dependence on the void ratio, pressure level and deformation direction. To simulate the formation of a spontaneous shear zone inside of cohesionless sand during plane strain compression, a hypoplastic law was extended by polar, non-local and gradient terms. The effects of 3 different models on the thickness of a shear zone was investigated.