Discrete element method (DEM) has been intensively used to study the constitutive behaviour of granular materials.However,to what extent a real granular material can be reproduced by virtual DEM simulations remains unclear.This study attempts to answer this question by comparing DEM simulations with typical features of experimental granular materials.Three groups of models with spherical and clumped particles are investigated from four perspectives:(i) deviatoric stress and volumetric behaviour;(ii) critical state behaviour;(iii) stress-dilatancy relationship;and (iv) the evolution of principal stress ratio against axial strain.The results demonstrate that DEM with spherical or clumped particles is capable of qualitatively describing macroscopic deviatoric stress responses,volumetric behaviour,and critical state behaviour observed in experiments for granular materials.On the other hand,some qual-itative deviations between experiments and the investigated DEM simulations are also observed,in terms of the stress-dilatancy behaviour and principal stress ratio against axial strain,which are proven to be critical for constitutive modelling.The results demonstrate that DEM with spherical or clumped particles may not necessarily fully capture experimental features of granular materials even from a qualitative perspective.It is thus encouraged to thoroughly validate DEM with experiments when developing constitutive models based on DEM observations.

Tongming Qu;Min Wang;Yuntian Feng

Zienkiewicz Centre for Computational Engineering,College of Engineering,Swansea University,Swansea,Wales SA18EP,UK;T-3 Fluid Dynamics and Solid Mechanics Group,Theoretical Division,Los Alamos National Laboratory,Los Alamos,NM,87545,USA

岩石力学与岩土工程学报（英文版）

[1]Tongming Qu;Min Wang;Yuntian Feng-.Applicability of discrete element method with spherical and clumped particles for constitutive study of granular materials)[J].岩石力学与岩土工程学报（英文版）,2022(01):240-251

clumped

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