Presently, nonlinear mechanical soil models are widely used in the geotechnical practice. They are implemented in geotechnical finite-element software PLAXIS, MIDAS GTS NX, Z-Soil, Optum, etc. Notwithstanding the fact that International regulatory documents mainly recommend nonlinear models for calculating foundations, they do not specify methods for defining their parameters because nonlinear models are actually commercial products of various software manufactures and cannot be normalized in any country. For this very reason, specialists of Gersevanov Research Institute of Bases and Underground Structures (department of JSC "Research center of Construction") developed Standard of Organization STO 36554501-067-2021. The Standard is based on the world experience in assessing nonlinear model parameters defined with using advanced laboratory equipment. The article describes the most significant provisions of this Standard. Thus, depending on the problem to be solved, four groups of models are introduced: I - a model includes volumetric isotropic hardening (Soft Soil); II - a model includes volumetric isotropic hardening and rheological properties of the soil (Soft Soil Creep); III - a model includes double isotropic hardening (Hardening Soil) and IV - a model includes double isotropic hardening and stiffness at small strain (Hardening soil with small strain). Requirements to the necessary and sufficient types and scope of tests, which define model parameters, are reported. Taking into account that only laboratory tests define model parameters, Standard provides requirements for specimens' quality evaluation performed basing on measurements of the volumetric strain under effective natural stress. Specimens of poor and very poor quality cannot be considered. It is shown that power-law coefficient m , which indicates the relationship between soil stiffness and stress-strain-state in the models of III and IV groups can be received from triaxial compression and oedometer tests and shall be prescribed depending on prevailing deformation (shear or compression). Stiffness parameters at small strains can be defined wit in-situ tests (seismoacoustic profiling) or with laboratory tests (resonant column test, seismoacoustic profiling of specimens in triaxial cell equipped with bender element and strain gauges on the local base). The developed Standard specifies requirements for laboratory definition of stiffness at small strains.

soil model, hardening, triaxial compression, oedometer, resonant column, bender elements, local strain measurements.