SANISAND-MS-T: Simple ANIsotropic SAND model with Memory Surface for Temperature effects

In recent years, growing investigations have explored temperature effects on the mechanics of sands, unveiling notable deformations caused by individual and multiple thermal cycles. Despite these advances, the simulation of temperature effects on the mechanics of sands resorts to limited constitutive models – none of which can suitably capture the influence of thermal cycles. This study aims to advance the state-of-the-art by presenting SANISAND-MS-T: a constitutive model that can thoroughly capture thermal cycling effects in sands. With these premises, this paper assesses the model capabilities by using a single set of parameters to simulate the deformation of 1 Q-ROK silica sand subjected to monotonic mechanical loading under triaxial conditions, mechanical loading and unloading under oedometric conditions, as well as cyclic thermal loading and unloading under oedometric conditions. The results demonstrate the capabilities of the SANISAND-MS-T model to simulate the evolution of sand deformation subjected to thermal cycling. In addition, the results explore the role of thermal cycling effects in achieving a terminal density for sands. This work offers a new modeling tool to capture the long-term deformation of sands and other granular materials under non-isothermal conditions for scientific and engineering purposes.