A model for decoding the life cycle of granular avalanches in a rotating drum

Granular materials can behave as harmless sand dunes or as devastating landslides. A granular avalanche marks the transition between these distinct solid-like and fluid-like states. The solid-like state is typically described using plasticity models from critical state theory. In the fluid regime, granular flow is commonly captured using a visco-plastic model. However, due to our limited understanding of the mechanism governing the solid–fluid-like transition, characterizing the material behavior throughout the life cycle of an avalanche remains an open challenge. Here, we employ laboratory experiments of transient avalanches spontaneously generated by a rotating drum. We report measurements of dilatancy and grain kinematics before, during, and after each avalanche. Those measurements are directly incorporated into a rate-dependent plasticity model that quantitatively predicts the granular flow measured in experiments. Furthermore, we find that dilatancy in the solid-like state controls the triggering of granular avalanches and therefore plays a key role in the solid–fluid-like transition. With the proposed approach, we demonstrate that the life cycle of a laboratory avalanche, from triggering to run out, can be fully explained. Our results represent an important step toward a unified understanding of the physical phenomena associated with transitional behavior in granular media.     

Phenomenological fractional stress–dilatancy model for granular soil and soil-structure interface under monotonic and cyclic loads

The stress–dilatancy relation is of critical importance for constitutive modelling of geomaterial. A novel fractional-order stress–dilatancy equation had been developed for granular soil, where a nonlinear stress–dilatancy response was always predicted. However, it was experimentally observed that after a certain extent of shearing, an almost linear response between the stress ratio and the dilatancy ratio, rather than the nonlinear response, usually existed. To capture such stress–dilatancy behaviour, a new fractional stress–dilatancy model is developed in this study, where an apparent linear response of the stress–dilatancy behaviour of soil after sufficient shearing is obtained via analytical solution. As the fractional order varies, the derived stress–dilatancy curve and the associated phase transformation state stress ratio keep changing. But, unlike existing researches, no other specific parameters, except the parameter related to fractional order, concerning such shift are required. Then, the developed stress–dilatancy model is applied to constitutive modelling of granular soil and soil–structure interface, for further validation. A series of test results of different granular soils and soil–structure interfaces under different loading conditions are simulated and compared, where a good model performance is observed.

     

基于微观力学的胶结岩土材料破损规律离散元模拟

采用离散元法（DEM）研究胶结岩土材料在不同加载条件下的结构破损规律。首先,基于微观力学理论,考虑胶结岩土材料颗粒间胶结特性,给出表征结构性损伤的破损参数式。该式具有微观物理意义,但不能直接用于建立宏观本构模型。其次,采用二维离散元源程序NS2D模拟等向压缩、等应力比压缩以及双轴压缩试验,分析破损参数在不同加载条件下随宏观力学变量（体积应变和剪应变）的演变规律。最后,根据模拟结果提出破损参数数学表达式,其为大主应变的函数。研究结果表明：胶结强度、应力比以及围压均在一定程度上影响了数值试样的结构破损规律。在等向压缩和等应力比压缩试验中,容易用函数式描述数值试样破损参数随体积应变或偏应变的演变规律;而在双轴压缩条件下,由于数值试样有剪胀特性,破损参数随体积应变的演变规律则不易描述。建议的破损参数数学表达式能够较好地描述数值试样在不同加载条件下结构破损规律。     

An elastoplastic description of frictional destructuration in natural clays and shales

The existence of structuration in natural clays and shales is believed to change their stiffness, yielding, dilatancy and strength characteristics. These constitutive features are widely known to ultimately reunite with those of the reconstituted parent soil upon large straining. However, some experimental results show that such reunification may not occur in isotropic/one-dimensional compression, especially with regard to the critical state friction angle. This peculiar phenomenon has been barely addressed in constitutive models for natural geomaterials. Hence, the present study aims at introducing a structure-dependent critical state friction angle within the subloading yield framework. A new internal variable is introduced in the model of Nakai et al. (Soils Found 51(6):1149–1168, 2011) to capture subtle irreversible degradation of the structured critical state line which also serves as the threshold between contractive and dilatant volume changes. Additionally, a new evolution rule for the proposed destructuration factor is developed by considering important microstructural information revealed by discrete element method simulations. The proposed new modifications not only enhance the model capabilities in predicting bonding effects, but also enrich the classical stress-dilatancy equation by rendering it a function of void ratio, mean stress and the microstructural state. Model simulations of laboratory experimental tests on the Colorado shale as well as Bacinetto clay are presented in order to illustrate the improved predictive capabilities of the new model.     

A non‐coaxial and unbalanced plastic flow rule for geomaterials and its application to the shear band orientation prediction

In this paper, the non‐coaxial relation between the principal plastic strain increments and the principal stresses, which results from the internal friction in geomaterials, is analyzed, and the phenomenon of the unbalanced development of plastic flow in two conjugate directions is discussed. A non‐coaxial, unbalanced plastic flow model for Coulomb frictional materials is developed and used to determine the orientation of shear band in geomaterials. It is shown that the unbalanced index r of plastic flow has important effect on the orientation of the shear band, and the orientation determined by the conventional plastic flow theory is only a special case of the proposed model when r=0. This result soundly explains the reason that the geomaterials with the same internal friction angle and dilatancy angle can have very different shear band orientations. In addition, the difference between the intrinsic and apparent dilatancy angles is analyzed, and it is emphasized that the dilatancy angle commonly used in practice is indeed the apparent dilatancy angle. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A state-dependent critical state model for methane hydrate-bearing sand

Methane hydrate exists in the pores of methane hydrate-bearing sand (MHBS) and is considered to be a potentially significant source of methane and thus energy for mankind. However, before conducting a large-scale extraction of methane from MHBS, it is crucial to simulate the mechanical behaviour of MHBS and evaluate its stability during drilling and methane production. In this paper, a state-dependent critical state model for MHBS is presented. The critical state of MHBS is discussed, and critical state line formulations are introduced as functions of hydrate saturation. A simple nonlinear bonding and linear debonding law is incorporated considering the cementing mechanism of hydrate. A modified state-dependent dilatancy is proposed to account for the effects of stress level, internal state (density), bonding strength and hydrate saturation. Determination of the model parameters is described in detail. The proposed model is employed to predict results of drained triaxial compression tests on MHBS. Satisfactory performance is demonstrated, i.e., the model can adequately capture the stress–strain and volume change behaviours of MHBS over a wide range of hydrate saturations, confining pressures and densities using a unified set of parameters.     

Cavity expansion analyses of crushable granular materials with state‐dependent dilatancy

Crushability is one of the important behaviors of granular materials particularly under high stress states, and affects both the deformability and strength of the materials that are in essence associated with state‐dependent dilatancy. In this presentation, first, a new critical state model is proposed to take into account the three different modes of compressive deformation of crushable granular materials, i.e. particle rearrangement, particle crushing and pseudo‐elastic deformation. Second, the governing equations for cavity expansion in crushable granulates are introduced, in which the state‐dependent dilatancy as well as the bounding surface plasticity model are used. Then, the procedure to obtain semi‐analytical solutions to cavity expansion in the material is described in detail, in which a commercial differential equation solver is employed. Finally, cavity expansion analyses are carried out on Toyoura sand, a well‐documented granular material, to demonstrate the effects of crushability and state‐dependent dilatancy. The study shows that particle crushing does occur at both high stress and critical states and affects the stress fields and the deformation behavior of the material surrounding the cavity in association with state‐dependent dilatancy. This leads to conclusion that particle crushing and state‐dependent dilatancy have to be taken into account when cavity expansion theory is used to interpret cone penetration tests and pressuremeter tests. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

胶结结构性土统一硬化模型

结构性土颗粒间的胶结使试样剪切破坏最终应力比高于相应重塑土,也限制了试样剪切时体积应变的自由发挥。在考虑结构垮塌为主的结构性土统一硬化(UH)模型基础上,将应力空间中静止的临界状态线扩展为动态的移动临界状态线。据此,通过建立新的屈服面方程并修正剪胀方程,将结构性土统一硬化(UH)模型扩展为胶结结构性土统一硬化(UH)模型。相对于原模型,新模型增加了1个模型参数,即初始胶结应力,反映土颗粒之间的初始胶结作用。通过4种结构性土试验数据与模型预测对照表明：所提模型能够较合理地描述结构性土等向压缩、常规三轴排水与不排水剪切等特性。     

基于广义SMP破坏准则的柱形孔扩张问题理论分析

采用应力跌落的简化应力-应变模型考虑土的应变软化特性,同时采用简化的体积应变?v与大主应变?1及大主应变?1与小主应变?3之间的相互关系反映土的剪胀特性,根据空间准滑动面(SMP)理论和平面应变轴对称问题的柱形孔扩张基本方程,推导并给出一般黏性土中柱形孔扩张问题的应力场、应变场、位移场、塑性区半径和孔扩张压力。通过算例分析,探讨了土的剪胀因素、软化特性对孔扩张问题的影响程度。为了反映中主应力的影响,将本文解与基于Mohr-Coulomb破坏准则的解答进行了比较。计算结果表明,土的剪胀性和软化特性及中主应力对孔扩张问题的影响是显著的,基于Mohr－Coulomb破坏准则的孔扩张解答往往偏于保守。     

考虑颗粒破碎的粗粒土剪胀性统一本构模型

粗粒土作为无黏性散粒状材料具有状态依赖特性,土体的剪切特性受密度和应力水平影响。易破碎是粗粒土的另一个特点,颗粒破碎影响粗粒土的剪胀、内摩擦角、峰值强度和渗透系数。为了能够准确地描述粗粒土的应力-应变关系,采用初始状态参量描述粗粒土的内部状态,根据三轴试验数据建立考虑颗粒破碎耗能的应力-应变关系,采用相关联流动法则推导考虑颗粒破碎的粗粒土剪胀性“统一本构模型”,并建立初始状态参量与模型参数之间的关系。所建立的统一本构模型既考虑了颗粒破碎对剪胀、内摩擦角的影响,又考虑了剪切特性对土体初始状态的依赖。采用变异粒子群算法拟合试验曲线,确定模型参数。模型计算结果能够很好地拟合试验曲线。采用同一组参数对假定的初始状态进行模拟计算,计算结果表明,模型能够模拟不同初始密度和应力水平下粗粒土变形的一般规律。     

Critical-state-based Mohr-Coulomb plasticity model for sands

This paper presents a refined Mohr-Coulomb model for sands based on the critical state theory. The refined model adjusts a dilatancy angle based on the state parameter with respect to the critical state line. Furthermore, a friction angle is decomposed into the critical state friction angle and a portion of the dilatancy angle to capture the peak phenomenon of dilative sands. The elemental simulations of the drained and undrained triaxial compression tests on Toyoura sand using the refined model showed much better performance than the conventional Mohr-Coulomb model.     

Numerical study of inter‐particle bond failure by 3D discrete element method

The cohesive‐frictional nature of cementitious geomaterials raises great interest in the discrete element method (DEM) simulation of their mechanical behavior, where a proper bond failure criterion is usually required. In this paper, the failure of bond material between two spheres was investigated numerically using DEM that can easily reproduce the failure process of brittle material. In the DEM simulations, a bonded‐grain system (composed of two particles and bond material in between) was discretized as a cylindrical assembly of very fine particles connecting two large end spheres. Then, the bonded‐grain system was subjected to compression/tension, shear, rolling and torsion loadings and their combinations until overall failure (peak state) was reached. Bonded‐grain systems with various sizes were employed to investigate bond geometry effects. The numerical results show that the compression strength is highly affected by bond geometry, with the tensile strength being dependent to a lesser degree. The shear, rolling and torsion strengths are all normal force dependent; i.e., with an increase in the normal force, these strengths first increase at a declining rate and then start to decrease upon the normal force exceeding a critical value. The combined actions of shear force, rolling moment and torque lead to a spherical failure envelope in a normalized loading space. The fitted bond geometry factors and bond failure envelopes obtained numerically in this three‐dimensional study are qualitatively consistent with those in previous two‐dimensional experiments. The obtained bond failure criterion can be incorporated into a future bond contact model. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Formulation of non-coaxial plastic dissipation and stress–dilatancy relations for geomaterials

Acta Geotechnica - Stress–dilatancy theories play a central role in the modeling of the plastic dissipation of geomaterials. There exist several mathematical frameworks for describing the...     

Stress–dilatancy based modelling of granular materials and extensions to soils with crushable grains

Stress–dilatancy relations have played a crucial role in the understanding of the mechanical behaviour of soils and in the development of realistic constitutive models for their response. Recent investigations on the mechanical behaviour of materials with crushable grains have called into question the validity of classical relations such as those used in critical state soil mechanics. In this paper, a method to construct thermodynamically consistent (isotropic, three‐invariant) elasto‐plastic models based on a given stress–dilatancy relation is discussed. Extensions to cover the case of granular materials with crushable grains are also presented, based on the interpretation of some classical model parameters (e.g. the stress ratio at critical state) as internal variables that evolve according to suitable hardening laws. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

高低压下不同力学特性的砂土统一模型

为构建能够反映砂土高低压下不同力学特性的统一模型,分析了砂土在较大的压力范围内的力学试验结果并获取其强度、等向压缩以及临界状态特性参数。通过引入应力路径相关因子来修正塑性应变增量中与应力路径相关的部分,从而使得模型硬化参量能够反映密实砂土在常压下的剪胀特性。同时,基于砂土的临界状态特性提出能够与砂土内部状态相对应的潜在状态面概念,由屈服面与潜在状态面间的动态关系确定加载过程中的动态密实参数及潜在强度,进而使得硬化参量也能够反映密实砂土在常压下的软化特性及高压下的剪缩、硬化特性。分析模型屈服面及潜在状态面间的演化规律并对不同压力等级下的砂土受荷力学行为进行模拟预测,证实了该模型能够反映密实砂土常压下剪胀软化及高压下剪缩硬化的特性。     

A discrete thermodynamic approach for anisotropic plastic–damage modeling of cohesive‐frictional geomaterials

A discrete plastic–damage model is developed for cohesive‐frictional geomaterials subjected to compression‐dominated stresses. Macroscopic plastic strains of material are physically generated by frictional sliding along weakness planes. The evolution of damage is related to the evolution of weakness planes physically in connection with the propagation of microcracks. A discrete approach is used to account for anisotropic plastic flow and damage evolution, by introducing two stress invariants and one plastic hardening variable for each family of sliding weakness planes. Plastic flow in each family is coupled with damage evolution. The proposed model is applied to typical geomaterials and comparisons between numerical predictions and experimental data are presented. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An evaluation on the degradation evolutions in three constitutive models for bonded geomaterials by DEM analyses

This paper presents a numerical evaluation on the degradation evolutions in three well-known constitutive models for bonded geomaterials using the Distinct Element Method (DEM). A series of isotropic, constant stress ratio and biaxial compression tests on the bonded geomaterials were carried out by a two-dimensional (2D) DEM code, NS2D, for this purpose. The constitutive models examined are the disturbed state constitutive model (DSC model), the superloading yield surface model and Nova’s model. First, a microscopic interpretation of the degradation variable, which is used to describe the degradation evolution in the models, was presented based on the micromechanics theory to compare the degradation evolutions used by the models with the DEM results. Then, the macromechanical responses of the numerical specimens in the DEM tests were examined in comparison with the experimental data on the artificially bonded sands. Finally, the degradation evolutions observed in the DEM tests were compared with the results predicted by the constitutive models. The study shows that the DEM results are able to capture the main features of the artificially bonded sands. The degradation evolutions used in the three constitutive models are all overally in agreement with the DEM results. In addition, two simple evolution equations for the degradation variable, which can well describe the degradation evolution observed in the DEM tests, were presented and discussed.     

颗粒大小对颗粒材料力学行为影响初探

利用一种特殊颗粒材料-玻璃珠进行了一系列室内直剪试验,研究颗粒大小对颗粒材料力学行为的影响。试验一共考虑了3条近乎平行的级配曲线和4种颗粒摩擦情况：干燥状态、水浸润状态、水淹没状态和油浸润状态。试验结果表明,颗粒大小对颗粒材料的力学行为有显著影响,剪胀性随着粒径的增大而增强。为考虑颗粒大小对剪胀性的影响,提出了一种新的剪胀关系式。在该剪胀关系式中,剪胀系数为依赖于颗粒大小和颗粒摩擦等颗粒基本性质的变量。试验研究同时表明临界状态摩擦角随着颗粒大小的增加而增加。此外,从颗粒细观运动的角度提出了颗粒滑动的功能模型,推导出了功能方程,并以此揭示了颗粒大小对临界状态摩擦角影响的细观机制。     

A constitutive model for bonded geomaterials subject to mechanical and/or chemical degradation

The mechanical behaviour of bonded geomaterials is described by means of an elastoplastic strain‐hardening model. The internal variables, taking into account the ‘history’ of the material, depend on the plastic strains experienced and on a conveniently defined scalar measure of damage induced by weathering and/or chemical degradation. For the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that only internal variables are affected by mechanical and chemical history of the material. Despite this simplifying assumption, it can be shown that many interesting phenomena exhibited by weathered bonded geomaterials can be successfully described. For instance, (i) the transition from brittle to ductile behaviour with increasing pressure of a calcarenite with collapsing internal structure, (ii) the complex behaviour of chalk and other calcareous materials in oedometric tests, (iii) the chemically induced variation of the stress and strain state of such kind of materials, are all phenomena that can be qualitatively reproduced. Several comparisons with experimental data show that the model can capture the observed behaviour also quantitatively. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.