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Granular Assembly (granular + assembly)
Selected AbstractsOn incremental non-linearity in granular media: phenomenological and multi-scale views (Part I)INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 14 2005Félix Darve Abstract On the basis of fundamental constitutive laws such as elasticity, perfect plasticity, and pure viscosity, many elasto-viscoplastic constitutive relations have been developed since the 1970s through phenomenological approaches. In addition, a few more recent micro-mechanical models based on multi-scale approaches are now able to describe the main macroscopic features of the mechanical behaviour of granular media. The purpose of this paper is to compare a phenomenological constitutive relation and a micro-mechanical model with respect to a basic issue regularly raised about granular assemblies: the incrementally non-linear character of their behaviour. It is shown that both phenomenological and micro-mechanical models exhibit an incremental non-linearity. In addition, the multi-scale approach reveals that the macroscopic incremental non-linearity could stem from the change in the regime of local contacts between particles (from plastic regime to elastic regime) in terms of the incremental macroscopic loading direction. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Coupling electrical and mechanical effects in discrete element simulationsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN ENGINEERING, Issue 2 2008M. Renouf Abstract When investigating the electrical characteristics of granular assemblies under dynamical solicitations (powder, steel bead assemblies, etc.), it is difficult to distinguish between effects that are purely electrical and those that are strongly dependent on mechanical effects. Although numerous experimental works have permitted better understanding of the static electrical behaviour of such media, it is difficult to determine the effects control the multi-physical behaviour of the medium, especially under dynamical solicitations. In the present paper, numerical investigations of the electrical characteristics of granular material are proposed. Moreover, it presents the formulation of a new model, embedded in the general scheme of discrete element methods, that couples electrical and mechanical effects and takes into account the oxidation phenomenon. Numerical simulations on the basis of experimental works are performed to validate the model, and the results of dynamical simulations are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An enhanced constitutive model for crushable granular materialsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 6 2010Ali Daouadji Abstract Studies in the past have tried to reproduce the mechanical behaviour of granular materials by proposing constitutive relations based on a common assumption that model parameters and parameters describing the properties, including gradation of individual grains are inevitably linked. However successful these models have proved to be, they cannot account for the changes in granular assembly behaviour if the grains start to break during mechanical loading. This paper proposes to analyse the relation between grading change and the mechanical behaviour of granular assembly. A way to model the influence of grain breakage is to use a critical state-based model. The influence of the amount of grain breakage during loading, depending on the individual grain strength and size distribution, can be introduced into constitutive relations by means of a new parameter that controls the evolution of critical state with changes in grain size distribution. Experimental data from a calcareous sand, a quartz sand, and a rockfill material were compared with numerical results and good-quality simulations were obtained. The main consequences of grain breakage are increased compressibility and a gradual dilatancy disappearance in the granular material. The critical state concept is also enriched by considering its overall relation to the evolution of the granular material. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] On the capillary stress tensor in wet granular materialsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 10 2009L. Scholtès Abstract This paper presents a micromechanical study of unsaturated granular media in the pendular regime, based on numerical experiments using the discrete element method, compared with a microstructural elastoplastic model. Water effects are taken into account by adding capillary menisci at contacts and their consequences in terms of force and water volume are studied. Simulations of triaxial compression tests are used to investigate both macro and micro-effects of a partial saturation. The results provided by the two methods appear to be in good agreement, reproducing the major trends of a partially saturated granular assembly, such as the increase in the shear strength and the hardening with suction. Moreover, a capillary stress tensor is exhibited from capillary forces by using homogenization techniques. Both macroscopic and microscopic considerations emphasize an induced anisotropy of the capillary stress tensor in relation with the pore fluid distribution inside the material. Insofar as the tensorial nature of this fluid fabric implies shear effects on the solid phase associated with suction, a comparison has been made with the standard equivalent pore pressure assumption. It is shown that water effects induce microstructural phenomena that cannot be considered at the macro level, particularly when dealing with material history. Thus, the study points out that unsaturated soil stress definitions should include, besides the macroscopic stresses such as the total stress, the microscopic interparticle stresses such as the ones resulting from capillary forces, in order to interpret more precisely the implications of the pore fluid on the mechanical behaviour of granular materials. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Fabric evolution of granular assembly under K0 loading/unloadingINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL AND ANALYTICAL METHODS IN GEOMECHANICS, Issue 13 2003Jyh-Chau Liou Abstract This study attempted to investigate the fabric evolution in K0 loading/unloading. The work made use of a field simulator to control K0 loading/unloading in large specimens prepared by air-pluviation. In each loading stage, wave velocities along various propagation directions were measured. On the basis of the theories of micro-mechanics and wave propagation, the microscopic parameters of the granular assembly were back calculated to investigate the fabric evolution of granular soil during K0 loading/unloading. In this study, the Geometric fabric was modelled by fabric tensors of ranks 2 and 4. The comparison of calibrated results using ranks 2 and 4 revealed the advantage of the usage of rank-4 fabric tensor in modelling fabric evolution in spite of its complexity. By comparing relative magnitudes of vertical and horizontal components of geometric fabric, it was demonstrated that relative constraint in lateral directions increased during K0 -unloading in order to maintain a K0 condition. It revealed that fabric evolution was responsible for a higher K0 in unloading than K0 in loading. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] An experimental method for determining the effects of strain gradients in a granular materialINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR NUMERICAL METHODS IN BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING, Issue 8 2003Matthew R. Kuhn Abstract The paper presents an algorithm for use with the discrete element method to study possible strain-gradient effects in granular materials. The algorithm produces an intentionally non-uniform displacement pattern by applying external (body) forces to the particles within a simulated granular assembly. The paper describes a method for adjusting the external forces to attain the intended gross displacement pattern, but while allowing individual particles to be in equilibrium among neighbouring particles. The performance of the algorithm is tested in an example of quasi-static deformation, and the algorithm's performance is measured in three respects. The algorithm is shown to enforce the intended displacement pattern, to allow particles to equilibrate among neighbouring particles, and to produce a smooth distribution of the external forces among particles. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||