ABSTRACT
This chapter explains how dynamical systems soil-mechanics theory suggests that strain rate (viscosity) effects and secondary consolidation each have a separate physical basis. The hypothesis presented in the chapter is that when the vertical stress becomes fully effective, though most particles have moved to their final position, some particles remain unstable. The chapter shows that the reason for the lack of resolution is that current approaches to this problem are "phenomenological," i.e., approach the problem only in terms of the observed behavioral effects of secondary consolidation and viscous effects. Dynamical systems soil-mechanics holds that a Poisson process in which friction at interparticle contact areas play a fundamental role drives soil deformation. Driving the viscous and secondary consolidation phenomena seen in one-dimensional compression down to underlying physical mechanisms furthers understanding of these phenomena and how they determine soil behavior in the laboratory and field.
