A cross-anisotropic elastoplastic model applied to sedimentary rocks.

Abstract

Strength and deformability properties of sedimentary rocks are difficult to characterize as these geomaterials show anisotropic mechanical behavior, which cannot be adequately evaluated by an isotropic constitutive model. This essay proposes a cross-anisotropic elastoplastic model to evaluate stress–strain relationships of sedimentary rocks. The approach couples the twelve-parameter Lade–Kim isotropic model with a non-uniform scaling of the stress tensor and includes two scaling parameters that link the orientation of the bedding planes with the loading direction. The anisotropic model parameters can be conveniently determined using Bayesian analysis. We illustrate our method using triaxial tests on a variety of confining stresses and bedding plane orientations for a travertine and a Tournemire shale. Our results demonstrate that the predicted maximum deviatoric stresses and the simulated stress–strain curves are shown to be in good agreement with the measured data.