A new anisotropic poroelastic damage model is proposed for saturated brittl
e porous materials. The model is formulated in the framework of the continu
um damage mechanics. A second-rank symmetric tensor is used to characterize
material damage due to oriented microcracks. The classic Blot poroelastic
theory is then extended to include poroelastic damage coupling. Both the de
terioration of elastic properties and poroelastic coefficients is taken int
o account. A suitable procedure for determination of model parameters from
standard laboratory tests is presented. The validity of the model is tested
through comparison between numerical predictions and experimental data in
various loading conditions. The overall performance of the model is evaluat
ed. The choice of relevant effective stress for the microcrack propagation
criterion in saturated cohesive geomaterials is discussed. Copyright (C) 20
00 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.