Drained cylindrical cavity expansion in K0-consolidated anisotropic soils under biaxial in-situ stresses

Cavity expansion is a classical problem in the field of solid mechanics with a wide range of applications in geotechnical and petroleum engineering. A drained solution is developed for cylindrical cavity expansion in anisotropic soils under biaxial in-situ stresses using a K0-based anisotropic modified Cam-clay model (K0-AMCC). The problem is formulated by solving differential equations using an auxiliary variable, which provides analytical expressions for the volume and four stress components of the soil around the cylindrical cavity. The solution is validated by comparisons with existing well-developed solutions. The results show that the present solution well captures the cavity expansion responses in anisotropic soils under biaxial in-situ stresses, and removes limiting assumptions that the cylindrical cavity expands under uniform in-situ stress in isotropic soils. The elastic-plastic boundary of the expanding cylindrical cavity in K0-consolidated anisotropic soils under biaxial in-situ stresses is a circle rather than an ellipse in isotropic soils, and the mathematical proof is provided in detail.