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ABSTRACT
The paper presents a review of some of the most widely used constitutive theories for rate-independent geomaterials, including non-linear elasticity, classical and generalized elastoplasticity and hypoplasticity. In the discussion of the different approaches, the incremental nature of the constitutive equation is adopted as a principal classification criterion, as first proposed by Darve [DAR 90a]. Central to this particular approach is the concept of incremental non-linearity, which is a distinct and in most cases more relevant feature of soil behavior than the commonly accepted notion of non-linearity, as derived from the stress-strain response in loading paths of finite size. The relative merits and limitations of each class are outlined with emphasis on those inherent features of their mathematical structure which might be of help in the assessment of their predictive capabilities when applied to practical geotechnical problems.
