Influences of dilatancy angle on the stress-strain mechanism of soil slopes

D-P criterion is used as the yield function in the ANSYS software. This criterion takes the intermediate principal stress σ2 and the hydrostatic pressure (or the average stress) σm into account for influences on the failure. Meanwhile,ANSYS can take dilatancy into account for influences upon the the plastic strain and plastic zone of soil through dilatancy angle ψ. Using the existing ANSYS with D-P criterion to analyze the influences of the dilatancy angle on the stress-strain mechanism of soil slope under the plane strain contion. Examples show that the dilatancy angle has a marked effect on the plastic strain and plastic zone of the slope,but the effects on the settlement Uy and the horizontal displacement Ux are not very significant. By comparison,the horizontal displacement and plastic strain of slope top and slope toe are more sensitive to the change of dilatancy angle ψ.