PICKERING, D. J. (1970). Gdotechnipue 20, No. 3, 271-276.

ANISOTROPIC ELASTIC PARAMETERS FOR SOIL

D. J. PICKERING, B.Sc.(Tech.), Ph.D., M.I.C.E.*

SYNOPSIS
The concept of soil as an anisotropic elastic
material is considered and the theoretical bounding
values of the relevant elastic parameters are
described.
The bounding values of the parameters are repre-
sented in three-dimensional space. Within the
space any given material is represented by a point
and points in certain regions represent particular
types of material. The requirements for infinite
bulk modulus, for uncoupled volumetric and distor-
tional phenomena and for dilatant soil are repre-
sented within the bounds of possible materials.
On considbre le concept du sol en tant que
materiau Clastique anisotrope et on decrit les valeurs
limites theoriques des parametres d’elasticite s’y
rapportant.
Les valeurs limites des parametres sont repre-
sent&es dans un espace a trois dimensions. A
l’interieur de l’espace, tout materiau don& est
represent& par un point et des points dans certaines
zones representent des types particuliers de materi-
aux. Les conditions requises pour un module de
masse infinie, pour des phenomenes volumetriques
et de distorsion sans liens entre eux et pour un sol en
dilatation sont representees a l’interieur des limites
des materiaux possibles.

In the past theoretical analyses of soil behaviour generally assumed that the properties of
soil are isotropic. However, there are many natural soils, such as flocculated clays or varved
silts, for which this assumption does not appear reasonable.
Furthermore, if theoretical analysis were to be done by finite element methods in a com-
puter, layered alluvial soils would often have a texture too fine for each layer to be represented
by a different element. Hence whole zones of layers would have to be accommodated in one
element. It seems reasonable that better results would be obtained if such elements were
treated as anisotropic.
Recently the probable anisotropic nature of soil has aroused interest. However, there is a
degree of uncertainty as to how far soil may vary from isotropic conditions and there is doubt
as to whether reasonable degrees of anisotropy would have an appreciable effect on soil
behaviour. This Paper examines the parameters which describe anisotropic behaviour.
In view of the types of soil deposit which might be expected to be anisotropic, it is assumed
that any anisotropy would be of the horizontally layered type. This implies that the govern-
ing parameters are independent of horizontal direction and the vertical axis at any point is an
axis of radial symmetry. If the layers have been distorted subsequent to their formation the
axis of radial symmetry may vary from the vertical and curvilinear axes may be implied.
However, this Paper is not concerned with problems of varying orientation of axes; it considers
behaviour at a point or behaviour of a homogeneous element. Since the direction of the axis
of radial symmetry is immaterial in the discussion and since it will usually be vertical, it is
considered vertical here. Taking a system of orthogonal Cartesian co-ordinates and defining
a y direction as vertical with x and z directions horizontal, elastic parameters are to be inde-
pendent of direction in the xz plane, i.e. the material is transversely isotropic.
It is recognized that soil is not linearly elastic. However, it is often convenient to treat it
as such, even if only for small load increments. In such a case, to describe the response of soil
to stresses, parameters similar to elastic parameters are required. With these reservations,
therefore, this Paper is concerned with the behaviour of soil as an elastic anisotropic solid.
It has been shown (Love, 1892) that elastic material, having the type of anisotropy
described, has five independent elastic parameters which can be taken as Young’s modulus in
any horizontal direction E,, Young’s modulus in a vertical direction E,, Poisson’s ratio for

* Cook Pickering & Doyle Ltd, Consulting Engineers, Vancouver.

271
272 D. J. PICKERING

strain in the vertical direction due to a horizontal direct stress, pxv, Poisson’s ratio for strain
in any horizontal direction due to a horizontal direct stress at right angles t+. and modulus of
shear deformation in a vertical plane G,,.
The remaining parameters are not independent because it was proved (Love, 1892) that
ELXY
-=- PYX

E, 6,
For isotropic material the corresponding constants reduce to Young’s modulus E and Pois-
son’s ratio CL. Thermodynamic considerations require that the strain energy of an elastic
material should always be positive. For isotropic material the requirements are satisfied if
E>O and -I.O<~L<O~.
For the anisotropic material under discussion the relationship between stresses and strains
can be written in the form
1
-- PLXY _- Pxx
z E, E,
1
-- PXY -- PXY
E, E, Ex
1
-- CL%% _- PXY
Ex Ex E, =
1
7
GXY
1
G,,
2(L + t%x)
EX
Writing [C] forthe matrix of elastic constants, [C]{a> = {c} andit will be seen that the strain energy
per unit volume is &{u}*[C](U}. If this quadratic form is positive definite, the strain energy
will be positive as required. The problem has been stated by Lempriere (1968) who then
deduced the bounding values of the Poisson’s ratios by considering various possible stress fields
and the conditions necessary to ensure that the resulting strain energy is positive. A more
rigorous form of analysis which considers all the elastic parameters is now given. The neces-
sary and sufficient conditions that the quadratic form should be positive definite are that all
the principal minors of [C] should be positive. So putting
& 0
= D,
1 = D4
0
1 G,,
-- PXY
Fx E, = D, & 0 0
1 1
-- PXY 0
E, E, O G,, = D,
1
1 -- Wxv -- W.%x 0 0
G,,
E, E, Ex
13, 0 0 0
-- tLXY 1 -- CLXY= D,
E, % Ex O 1
G,,
O 0
Pxx
-- PXY 1
-- = D,
E, Ex z 0
0
G,,
1 O
00 07 2 + 2Yxx
all the D values should be positive. x
 ANISOTROPIC ELASTIC PARAMETERS FOR SOIL 273
However the rows and columns are interchanged, G,, always appears by itself, on the main
diagonal, and thus its only requirement is that it be positive. Since D, = D,lG,, it is evident
that, if D3 is positive, D, will be positive if G,, > 0, and therefore D,, which is equal to D41Gxy,
will be positive. The requirement that D, be positive is satisfied if E, is positive, and hence
multiplying the elements of the other minors by E,, Ez or Ez will not change their signs.
Therefore, the criteria for positive strain energy are
(a) D, = l/E,, therefore E, must be positive
(b) D,E$ = E,IE, -& must be positive
(c) D,EbJ= [E,.E,(l -pLxx) -2p&][l +px,] must be positive
(4 G,, must be positive
(e) 2(1 +p,..) must be positive, therefore pXX must be greater than - 1.
Since -& is always negative, D, can be positive only if EJE, is positive and greater than
2
CL._. Since E, is positive, this means that E, must be positive.
Condition (e) requires that I+ pXXbe positive and this factor can then be omitted from D,,
since if one factor is always positive the other must be too.
In D, the term E,/E,(l -pxx) -2p&, remains to be discussed. If pLxXis at its bounding
value of - I, the term reduces to twice the value of D,Ez and conditions (a) and (c) coincide.
If pXX> - I then E,/E,( 1 - pX.) - 2& -c 2E,lE, - 2&. Therefore, within the permitted
values of pXX, condition (c) is always more restrictive than condition (b), which can therefore be
omitted. The remaining conditions are
(a) E,, E, and G,, must each be greater than zero
(b) CLXXmust be greater than - 1
(c) E,/E,(l -p.J -2p’&, must be greater than zero.
It might be noted that in (c), the second term is always negative and so the first term must
always be positive. Since the E values are both positive, this requires that 1 -ptLxXbe positive
and hence CL,..< 1. By equating the terms of (c) to zero, we can obtain the bounding surface
between pXX= 1 and pXX= - 1 in E,IE,, y,., pLxyspace. The surface includes all the para-
meters except G,, which is independent of the others. The shape of the boundary is shown
in Fig. 1. It consists of a continuous surface as far as pXx= - 1, where the solid, containing
possible values of the constants, is cut off by a vertical wall. In addition to G,, it must be
remembered that E, and E, are also independent (so long as all three are positive) and really it
is only the Poisson’s ratios which are bounded by the ratio of EJE,. The shape of the bounding
surface is paraboloid; any vertical section with constant px. is a parabola and any horizontal
section with constant E,IE, is a parabola. It is interesting that the surface could be generated
by straight lines passing through the point E,IE, = 0, pnw= 1, pxv = 0.
Further points of interest emerge. If an element of material strains so that

EX = EU= E, = E
Yxy = Yyz = Yzx = 0
no distortion occurs.
Consider the effect of an isotropic state of stress with a uniform normal compression 0 in all
directions
I
EX=EZ=(T
[
&-g<
I . . . . . .
Ey = (3 _~~+&_~g! . . . . . .
[ Y n 1
274 D. J. PICKERING

Fig. 1. Bounds for elastic constants Fig. 2. Representation of particular types of

material

Since there is no shear stress the x, y and z shear strains are zero and so if
1
--A--=
PXY Pm _gg+$_g? . . .
Ex E, Ex Y x
there is no distortion, i.e. if
EX
F-1 = pxy-p.m . . . . . . . .
Y

the material does not distort under isotropic compression. It will be found that the converse
applies; under a mean compression of zero the same material does not change volume. Mater-
ial complying with these conditions lies on a plane in EJE,, pxx, pxv space. This plane is the
triangle ABC in Fig. 2. It represents materials for which distortional strain and stress are
uncoupled from volumetric strain and stress. If a material which is not represented on the
plane of triangle ABC is subjected to isotropic compression, it will sustain shear strains.
It is seen that isotropic materials lie on the line CD at 45” to the p axes in Fig. 2. As
expected, this line is in the plane where volumetric and distortional strains are uncoupled and
the limiting values of pXX=pny are - 1.0 and +0.5. However, it must be remembered that
because G,, is independent materials may lie on line CD and still be anisotropic.
Considering compressibility, the strain energy of a material subjected to uniform normal
stress (Tis given by

& {E,/Ey$2-4~,,-2t~,,}a~ . . . . . . .
x
If the material lies on line AB
E,/E,+2-4pxlI--2pxn = 0 . . . . . . . (8)
the strain energy is zero. Hence line AB represents materials with infinite bulk modulus.
In fact all incompressible materials with this type of anisotropy are represented by line AB;
 ANISOTROPIC ELASTIC PARAMETERS FOR SOIL 275

this follows because equation (8) is the equation of a plane which is tangent to the envelope of
elastic parameters along line AB, but is otherwise outside the envelope.
The equations of the tangent line AB are

cLxx+&l = 1
E,IE, = 21-+y
and any other possible materials are compressible.
If a uniaxial stress oy is applied to the material the volumetric strain is

& @,I-% - 2~xu)a,

x
Thus there is no volumetric strain if EJE, = 2pxv. This condition is represented by a plane,
sloping upwards in the direction of t+, and containing the axis of pXx. If a material has pLwu
large enough to put it outside this plane, volumetric strain is negative and the material swells
under uniaxial compression in they direction. The shaded area in Fig. 2 is the portion of the
solid which lies outside this plane, and hence shows the possible materials which actually swell
when subjected to compressive gy. It follows that with a large (Jo and small (TVand g2 a
material may swell when compressed. This may be of interest in considering the behaviour of
precompressed clays under triaxial test; it can be seen that it may be possible for such soil to
swell during a triaxial test without a release of energy. This conclusion may have significance
in finite element analyses by computer, since it shows that dilatant material can be treated by
elastic methods.
In conclusion it may be pointed out that for a saturated soil skeleton the pore pressure
parameter A may be markedly different from l/3 and the skeleton may still behave elastically.
For a triaxial soil sample with this type of anisotropy the x, y and z directions are axes of
principal stress. Usually o1 will act in the y direction, and this is now assumed. (However,
with the relevant changes of stress subscripts, the argument would still hold for gy less than
the chamber pressure.) If the applied stresses are changed by the amounts da, and do,, leading
to changes of effective stress de, and da,, the volumetric strain of the skeleton is Aa,{l/E, -
2p.,,/E,} + 2A0,{1 /E, - pX.JEx - pXy/EX). The pore fluid boundaries must conform to the
sample boundaries so, assuming incompressible soil grains, the change in volume of the pore
fluid must be equal to the change in volume of the soil skeleton. If the porosity of the soil is n,
the compressibility of the pore fluid is C, and the change in pore pressure is Au, the change in
volume of the pore fluid is AuC,n per unit volume of sample. Equating the volume changes
and putting AG = AU - Au yields

AG,n = AoNE, - 2~,,l-%J+A~~{2lE, - 2~xxlE, -2~L,,lE,1

-Ml l-Q + 2lE.z - 2~xxlE, - 4t~,/E,) . . . (9)
It has already been shown that 1/E,+2/E,-2~L,,lE,-4~,,/E, is the compressibility of the
soil skeleton under isotropic compression and putting this expression equal to C,, transposing
and gathering terms gives
dzt{C,+C,n} = AasC,+{Ao~-Aa,}{l/E,-2~CL,,/E,} . . . (10)
Assuming that the specimen is saturated and C, is negligible compared to C,

Au =o,,+(Ao,-Ao,)(&+)$ . e . . .

or, returning to the parameters used earlier, for the axes discussed

Au = Au3 + (Aal - Au,) ExIE, --%a

E,IE,+2-2p,,--p,, ’ ’ *
276 D. J. PICKERING

The denominator of the last term in equation (12) is E,C, and it has been shown that it is zero
along the line AB in Fig. 2, but it can never be negative. If the denominator is very small, the
term does not tend to infinity because C, is no longer negligible by comparison with C,.
It will be seen that when (T~changes, Au/A u1 reduces to l/3 for isotropic soil, as expected,
but it is different even for mild anisotropy. For example, if pXu = pnn = 0.25 and EJE, = 0.7,
the ratio Au/Au, becomes l/6. The numerator of the pore pressure expression is the same as
for volume change under vertical stress and hence materials which dilate under vertical com-
pression would also exhibit negative values of the A parameter. For example, if pXy=pLxx=
O-4 and E,IE,=0667, it is seen that A = -0.5.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Most of the work described in this Paper was done to supplement a programme of study
at the University of British Columbia. The Author acknowledges financial support from
the National Research Council of Canada and from the University.

REFERENCES
LEMP$y;T: B. M. (1968). Poisson’s ratio in orthotropic materials. J. Am. Inst. Aeronaut. Astronaut. 6,

LovE~~A~,“. H. (1892). A treatise on the mathematical theory of elasticity, 2 volumes. Cambridge University