Partic. vol. 16 pp. 132-141 (October 2014)
doi: 10.1016/j.partic.2013.12.005

Micro-scale behavior of granular materials during cyclic loading

Md. Mahmud Sazzad^*

mmsruet@gmail.com

Abstract

This study presents the micro-scale behavior of granular materials under biaxial cyclic loading for different confining pressures using the two-dimensional (2D) discrete element method (DEM). Initially, 8450 ovals were generated in a rectangular frame without any overlap. Four dense samples having confining pressures of 15, 25, 50, and 100 kPa were prepared from the initially generated sparse sample. Numerical simulations were performed under biaxial cyclic loading using these isotropically compressed dense samples. The numerical results depict stress–strain–dilatancy behavior that was similar to that observed in experimental studies. The relationship between the stress ratio and dilatancy rate is almost independent of confining pressures during loading but significantly dependent on the confining pressures during unloading. The evolution of the coordination number, effective coordination number and slip coordination number depends on both the confining pressures and cyclic loading. The cyclic loading significantly affects the microtopology of the granular assembly. The contact fabric and the fabric-related anisotropy are reported, as well. A strong correlation between the stress ratio and the fabric related to contact normals is observed during cyclic loading, irrespective of confining pressures.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Cyclic loading; Confining pressure; Micro-scale behavior; Granular matter; Fabric measures