## 5 Conclusions  
In this paper, the results of the cyclic triaxial test on compacted sandy clay specimens are presented and we propose the SHLM as a method of plastic and total strain calculation. Geotechnical engineers can use the SHLM with the input parameters obtained without cyclic tests and with the use of the knowledge about stress state in soil and initial stiffness properties and initial strain caused by rapid loading. The paper shows the investigation of the effect of cyclic loading through several tests on soil deformation response. Based on these results, the following conclusions may be presented:  
1. During all tests, the axial strain follows the same pattern. The first few cycles constitute a major part of the registered deformations. After this event, the increase in axial strain is lower and the amount of accumulated plastic strain is lower with each cycle. This behavior was defined as ablation, which means the accumulation potential during cyclic loading abates with the running test. Specimens under higher critical state ratios show greater accumulation of deformations. 2. Registered strains were normalized with the use of first strain value as a reference. We introduced the total and plastic strain normalization parameters, and power function was employed to describe the strain-number of cycles relationship. This approach resulted in the sample stiffness analysis which showed a linear relationship between cyclic Young modulus \(E_{cyc}\) degradation and the total strain normalization parameter \(T_{x}\). 3. The ablation parameter \(A_{x}\), which describes the plastic strain related to the total strain in one cycle, has shown satisfying linear relationship cyclic Young modulus degradation characteristics. Figure 14: Comparison between the test results and the plastic strain models for sample 1.1. This relationship also shows that the soil response to cyclic loading can be described in terms of ablation rather than in terms of shakedown. Nevertheless, after numerous cycles, when the rate of plastic strain decreases to zero, the shakedown will occur and the soil respond to cyclic loading might be called as a shakedown
4. Based on the abovementioned stiffness-strain-stress considerations, we derived the SHLM. This model can simulate the strain development during cyclic loading and, therefore, enables engineers to model the soil deformation when subjected to cyclic loading. The model needs four constants, namely: maximum shear modulus \(E_{max}\), total strain in the first cycle caused by cyclic loading \(e_{a}^{T,1}\), the maximal deviator stress \(q_{max}\) and the initial effective confining pressure \(\sigma^{{}^{\prime}}{{}_{3}}\). The SHLM is based on the six more hidden parameters which remain constant in this study and which might later be changed when more cyclic triaxial data would be employed for analysis. Nevertheless, the SHLM delivers a close forecast of plastic and elastic strain accumulation in terms of prognosis precision and quantity of strain accumulation. We estimated the mean percentage error of SHLM to be equal 12.18% based on _ex-post_ analysis. In the subject of strain modeling with permanent deformations, various models were developed to determine the relationship between accumulated strain and the number of cycles. In most cases, the relationship was the power function or some modification of it. Studies have not examined the possible further deformation relationships to derive functional models independent from the obligation to perform the cyclic triaxial tests. In this study, we adopted a new perspective and the relationship between strain-stress and stiffness of soil was established. This resulted in the SHLM proposition independent from the duty of preliminary cyclic triaxial test execution and which adequately describes the response of cohesive soil to cyclic loading as ablation. [PERSON] conceived and designed the experiments; [PERSON] and [PERSON] performed the experiments; [PERSON], wrote the paper; [PERSON] edited and audited the content.