An averaging procedure for layered materials

In order to model thin-layered soils a special averaging procedure is propo sed. It works with very few restrictions imposed on the constitutive equati ons used for individual materials. General considerations are followed by a n example from open pit mining industry. Geometrical non-linearity is consi dered. The proposed method is not necessarily restricted to the problems of soil mechanics. It could also be applied on composite materials. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.