Modelling of hydro-mechanical shakedown and ratcheting of unsaturated granular materials

Transport pavements commonly use granular materials due to their superior mechanical properties and cost-effectiveness. But their performance can be hindered by inadequate densification, excessive traffic loads, and climate change effects. This thesis develops a novel constitutive model and numerical techniques to simulate granular pavement performance due to these effects accurately. This development significantly enhances our capability to predict granular materials' performance under different loading and water saturation conditions for better design of transport pavements.