Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

DEM modeling of aging or creep in sand based on the effects of microfracturing of asperities and evolution of microstructural anisotropy during triaxial creep

  • Research Paper
  • Published:
Acta Geotechnica Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Aging- or creep-related phenomena in sand have been widely studied, and the discrete element method (DEM) has been frequently used to model the associated soil behavior and then to explore the associated underlying mechanisms. However, several difficulties involved in modeling still remain unsolved. To resolve these difficulties, a new approach based on the effect of the microfracturing of asperities is proposed in this study for the DEM modeling of the sand aging or creep process through several aging cycles of associated reduction in the mobilized friction resistance at particle contacts and subsequent particle rearrangement to reach a new equilibrium state. This approach can be easily incorporated into different contact models and DEM simulations of the loading, unloading, and/or reloading processes, in either drained or undrained conditions, before and/or after aging. This new approach is proven effective because the DEM simulations incorporated with this new approach can satisfactorily reproduce the experimental observations in the triaxial creep process, drained and undrained recompression after aging, and 1D secondary compression and rebound. The simulation results also indicate that, based on the stress–force–fabric relationship, the contribution from the contact normal anisotropy to the deviatoric stress q gradually increases, whereas the contribution from the tangential force anisotropy becomes less during triaxial creep under a constant q. Moreover, the contacts between particles are gradually away from the state where the frictional resistance is fully mobilized, and then become more stable. During the subsequent triaxial recompression after creep, the aged samples exhibit enhanced soil stiffness, which is also found to be associated with the evolution of the invariants of the anisotropy tensors. It is worthwhile noting that the aging or creep effects on the microstructural changes, e.g., the invariants of the anisotropy tensors, can be gradually erased upon further recompression. This explains why the stress–strain responses of the aged samples during recompression gradually rejoin the original stress–strain response obtained from the sample without being subjected to aging or creep.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Augustesen A, Liingaard M, Lade PV (2004) Evaluation of time-dependent behavior of soils. Int J Geomech 4(3):137–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Ben-David O, Cohen G, Fineberg J (2010) The dynamics of the onset of frictional slip. Science 330(6001):211–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Bowman ET, Soga K (2003) Creep, ageing and microstructural change in dense granular materials. Soils Found 43(4):107–117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Brzesowsky R, Hangx S, Brantut N, Spiers C (2014) Compaction creep of sands due to time-dependent grain failure: effects of chemical environment, applied stress, and grain size. J Geophys Res Solid Earth 119(10):7521–7541

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Cavarretta I, Coop M, O’Sullivan C (2010) The influence of particle characteristics on the behavior of coarse grained soil. Géotechnique 60(6):413–423

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Chantawarungal K (1993) Numerical simulations of three dimensional granular assemblies. Ph.D. thesis, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

  7. Chester JS, Lenz SC, Chester FM, Lang RA (2004) Mechanisms of compaction of quartz sand at diagenetic conditions. Earth Planet Sci Lett 220(3):435–451

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Collop AC, McDowell GR, Lee YW (2006) Modelling dilation in an idealised asphalt mixture using discrete element modelling. Granul Matter 8(3–4):175–184

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Daramola O (1980) Effect of consolidation age on stiffness of sand. Géotechnique 30(2):213–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Dieterich JH, Kilgore BD (1994) Direct observation of frictional contacts: new insights for state-dependent properties. Pure Appl Geophys 143(1–3):283–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Dieterich JH, Kilgore BD (1996) Imaging surface contacts: power law contact distributions and contact stresses in quartz, calcite, glass and acrylic plastic. Tectonophysics 256(1–4):219–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Fischer-Cripps AC (2004) A simple phenomenological approach to nanoindentation creep. Mater Sci Eng A Struct 385(1):74–82

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Gao Y, Wang YH (2016) Experimental characterization of deformation, coefficient of earth pressure at rest, stiffness, and contact force distributions of sand during secondary compression and rebound. Can Geotech J 53(5):889–898

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Gao Y, Wang YH, Su JC (2013) Mechanisms of aging-induced modulus changes in sand under isotropic and anisotropic loading. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 139(3):470–482

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Guo N, Zhao J (2013) The signature of shear-induced anisotropy in granular media. Comput Geotech 47:1–15

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  16. Howie JA, Shozen T, Vaid YP (2002) Effect of ageing on stiffness of very loose sand. Can Geotech J 39(1):149–156

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Human CA (1992) Time dependent property changes of freshly deposited or densified sands. Ph.D. thesis, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley

  18. Ibraim E, Di Benedetto H, Doanh T (2009) Time-dependent behaviour and static liquefaction phenomenon of sand. Geotech Geol Eng 27(1):181–191

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Imole OI, Wojtkowski M, Magnanimo V, Luding S (2014) Micro-macro correlations and anisotropy in granular assemblies under uniaxial loading and unloading. Phys Rev E 89(4):042210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Kanatani K (1984) Distribution of directional data and fabric tensors. Int J Eng Sci 22(2):149–164

    Article  MathSciNet  MATH  Google Scholar 

  21. Karimpour H, Lade PV (2013) Creep behavior in Virginia Beach sand. Can Geotech J 50(11):1159–1178

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Klotz EU, Coop MR (2001) An investigation of the effect of soil state on the capacity of driven piles in sands. Géotechnique 51(9):733–751

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Klotz EU, Coop MR (2002) On the identification of critical state lines for sands. Geotech Test J 25(3):1–14

    Google Scholar 

  24. Kuhn MR, Mitchell JK (1992) Modelling of soil creep with the discrete element method. Eng Comput 9(2):277–287

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Kuhn MR, Mitchell JK (1993) New perspectives on soil creep. J Geotech Eng 119(3):507–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Kuhn MR, Renken HE, Mixsell AD, Kramer SL (2014) Investigation of cyclic liquefaction with discrete element simulations. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 140(12):04014075

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Kuwano R, Jardine RJ (2002) On measuring creep behaviour in granular materials through triaxial testing. Can Geotech J 39(5):1061–1074

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kwok CY, Bolton MD (2010) DEM simulations of thermally activated creep in soils. Géotechnique 60(6):425–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Lade PV, Karimpour H (2010) Static fatigue controls particle crushing and time effects in granular materials. Soils Found 50(5):573–583

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Lade PV, Liggio CD Jr, Nam J (2009) Strain rate, creep and stress drop-creep experiments on crushed coral sand. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 135(7):941–953

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Lade PV, Liu CT (1998) Experimental study of drained creep behavior of sand. J Eng Mech 124(8):912–920

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Lade PV, Nam J, Liggio CD Jr (2010) Effects of particle crushing in stress drop-relaxation experiments on crushed coral sand. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 136(3):500–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Li X (2006) Micro-scale investigation on the quasi-static behavior of granular material. Ph.D. thesis for Civil Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong

  34. Ma G, Zhou W, Ng TT, Cheng YG, Chang XL (2015) Microscopic modeling of the creep behavior of rockfills with a delayed particle breakage model. Acta Geotech 10(4):481–496

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. McDowell G, Khan J (2003) Creep of granular materials. Granular Matter 5(3):115–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Mesri G, Vardhanabhuti B (2009) Compression of granular materials. Can Geotech J 46(4):369–392

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Michalowski RL, Nadukuru SS (2012) Static fatigue, time effects, and delayed increase in penetration resistance after dynamic compaction of sands. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 138(5):564–574

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. Mitchell JK, Soga K (2005) Fundamentals of soil behavior, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  39. Murayama S, Michihiro K, Sakagami T (1984) Creep characteristics of sand. Soils Found 24(5):1–15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Nadukuru SS, Michalowski RL (2014) Static fatigue at grain contacts: a key cause of time effects in sand. In: Geo-congress 2014, pp 731–740

  41. Ng TT, Dobry R (1994) Numerical simulations of monotonic and cyclic loading of granular soil. J Geotech Eng 120(2):388–403

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Oda M (1982) Fabric tensor for discontinuous geological materials. Soils Found 22(4):96–108

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Ouadfel H, Rothenburg L (2001) ‘Stress–force–fabric’ relationship for assemblies of ellipsoids. Mech Mater 33:201–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Persson BNJ (2000) Sliding friction: physical principles and applications. Springer, Berlin

    Book  MATH  Google Scholar 

  45. Rothenburg L, Bathurst RJ (1989) Analytical study of induced anisotropy in idealized granular materials. Geotechnique 39(4):601–614

    Article  Google Scholar 

  46. Rubinstein SM, Cohen G, Fineberg J (2004) Detachment fronts and the onset of dynamic friction. Nature 430(7003):1005–1009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  47. Rubinstein SM, Gohen G, Fineberg J (2009) Visualizing stick–slip: experimental observations of processes governing the nucleation of frictional sliding. J Phys D Appl Phys 42(21):214016

    Article  Google Scholar 

  48. Satake M (1978) Constitution of mechanics of granular materials through the graph theory. In: Continuum mechanical and statistical approaches in the mechanics of granular materials, pp 47–62

  49. Schmertmann JH (1991) The mechanical aging of soils. J. Geotech Eng 117(9):1288–1330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  50. Sitharam TG, Vinod JS, Ravishankar BV (2009) Post-liquefaction undrained monotonic behaviour of sands: experiments and DEM simulations. Géotechnique 59(9):739–749

    Article  Google Scholar 

  51. Soroush A, Ferdowsi B (2011) Three dimensional discrete element modeling of granular media under cyclic constant volume loading: a micromechanical perspective. Powder Technol 212(1):1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Stegall DE, Mamun MA, Crawford B, Elmustafa AA (2014) Repeated load relaxation testing of pure polycrystalline nickel at room temperature using nanoindentation. Appl Phys Lett 104(4):041902

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Suarez NR (2012) Micromechanical aspects of aging in granular soils. Ph.D. thesis, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg

  54. Svetlizky I, Fineberg J (2014) Classical shear cracks drive the onset of dry frictional motion. Nature 509(7499):205–208

    Article  Google Scholar 

  55. Wang YH, Gao Y (2013) Mechanisms of aging-induced modulus changes in sand with inherent fabric anisotropy. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 139(9):1590–1603

    Article  Google Scholar 

  56. Wang YH, Lau YM, Gao Y (2014) Examining the mechanisms of sand creep using DEM simulations. Granul Matter 16(5):733–750

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Wang YH, Tsui KY (2009) Experimental characterization of dynamic property changes in aged sands. J Geotech Goenviron Eng 135(2):259–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Wang YH, Xu D, Tsui KY (2008) Discrete element modeling of contact creep and aging in sand. J Geotech Geoenviron Eng 134(9):1407–1411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  59. Wang YM, Hamza AV, Ma E (2006) Temperature-dependent strain rate sensitivity and activation volume of nanocrystalline Ni. Acta Mater 54(10):2715–2726

    Article  Google Scholar 

  60. Wang Z, Michalowski RL (2015) Contact fatigue in silica sand—observations and modeling. Geomech Energy Environ 4:88–99

  61. Yimsiri S, Soga K (2010) DEM analysis of soil fabric effects on behaviour of sand. Geotechnique 60(6):483–495

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Zhang Z, Wang YH (2015) Three-dimensional DEM simulations on monotonic jacking in sand. Granul Matter 17(3):359–376

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Zhang Z, Wang YH (2015b) Examining the initiation mechanisms of static and dynamic liquefaction using three dimensional DEM simulations. In: Proceedings of 5th international conference on computational methods in structural dynamics and earthquake engineering (COMPDYN 2015), Crete Island, Greece

  64. Zhao J, Guo N (2014) Rotational resistance and shear-induced anisotropy in granular media. Acta Mech Solida Sin 27(1):1–14

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This research was conducted at the HKUST and supported by the Hong Kong Research Grants Council (HKUST6/CRF/12R). The authors are grateful to the reviewers for their valuable comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geotechnical Engineering, China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Beijing, 100044, China

    Zitao Zhang

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, China

    Yu-Hsing Wang

Authors
  1. Zitao Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yu-Hsing Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yu-Hsing Wang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zhang, Z., Wang, YH. DEM modeling of aging or creep in sand based on the effects of microfracturing of asperities and evolution of microstructural anisotropy during triaxial creep. Acta Geotech. 11, 1303–1320 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-016-0483-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-016-0483-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation