Introduction to barodesy

Abstract

Barodesy is a frame for constitutive modelling of soils based on their asymptotic properties. This frame allows the constitutive relation to be derived by reasoning on the general properties of granular materials. The constitutive relation obtained in this way is a single tensorial equation of outstanding simplicity that expresses the evolution of stress in dependence of the deformation. More than a mere equation, barodesy is rather a constitutive theory to provide a frame for understanding the intricate mechanical behaviour of condensed granular matter. As compared with previous publications on barodesy, the present paper contains considerable improvements in terms of conceptual rigour, simplicity and performance.