Micromechanics of Granular Materials

Book excerpt: Nearly all solids are compised of grains. However most studies treat materials as a continious solid. The book applies analysis used on loose granular materials to dense grainular materials. This title’s main focus is devoted to static or dynamic loadings applied to dense materials, although rapid flows and widely dispersed media are also mentioned briefly. Three essential areas are covered: Local variable analysis: Contact forces, displacements and rotations, orientation of contacting particles and fabric tensors are all examples of local variables. Their statistical distributions, such as spatial distribution and possible localization, are analyzed, taking into account experimental results or numerical simulations. Change of scales procedures: Also known as “homogenization techniques”, these procedures make it possible to construct continuum laws to be used in a continuum mechanics approach or performing smaller scale analyses. Numerical modeling: Several methods designed to calculate approximate solutions of dynamical equations together with unilateral contact and frictional laws are presented, including molecular dynamics, the distinct element method and non-smooth contact dynamics. Numerical examples are given and the quality of numerical approximations is discussed.