The Effect of Particle Crushing and Confining Pressure on the Mechanical Behavior of Granular Materials Using DEM

One of the important problems in geotechnical engineering is the evolution of granular soil behavior as a result of particle breakage. By using Discrete Element Method (DEM), a model is established to simulate the breakage of two-dimensional rectangle-shaped particles. In simulations, the particles are supposed to be able to be fragmented into two pieces. In fact, each particle consists of two sub-particles bonded with each other. Particle crushing will occur during the numerical analysis if the bond between these sub-particles breaks. With this model, the effect of particle breakage on macro mechanical behavior of granular materials can be studied. Two series of biaxial tests, with and without breakable particles, are simulated under different confining pressures and the results are compared. The results are represented in terms of deviator stress and volume change regarding to different confining pressures. It is observed that particle crushing has a major influence on the mechanical behavior of granular materials like a decrease in both deviator stress and volume change. In addition, similar to the case of unbreakable particles, higher confining pressure leads to an increase in deviator stress and a decrease in dilation in the assemblies with breakable particles.

کلیدواژه ها:

Discrete Element Method (DEM) ، Particle breakage ، Granular material ، Confining Pressure ، Mechanical behavior