Chemo-mechanical Modelling in Bonded Geomaterials from the Micro- to the Macro-scale

Chemo-mechanical effects are known to influence the behavior of bonded geomaterials in a number of applications in civil, environmental and energy engineering. In this work, a two-scale constitutive model is concisely presented, in which macroscopic chemo-mechanical properties are set to mainly depend on the reactive surface area and on the cross-sectional area of cementation bonds, via two key macroscopic ‘cross-scale’ functions. The model is focused on materials with nonreactive grains and reactive bonds, such as carbonate cemented sandstones or microbially cemented silica sands. An example validation is provided, by reproducing triaxial compression tests on both loose and bio-cemented sandy soil.