Exact solution for drained spherical cavity expansion in saturated soils of finite radial extent

Summary This study presents an exact solution for drained spherical cavity expansion subjected to constant stress and zero displacement boundary conditions in finite medium. The solution is exact as no simplification is involved in the solution procedure in the plastic region and can be solved as an initial value problem. The effect of finite radial extent on the results of cavity expanding to a certain radius is accounted for through the initial values at the elastic‐plastic boundary. A critical state constitutive model with a nonassociated flow rule is adopted. The model parameters from literature are then used in generating the results for cavity expansion in infinite and finite radial extent to highlight the difference. Also, the results are presented in a way that can be used to account for the boundary effect for the interpretation of cone penetration tests conducted in calibration chambers.