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On non-coaxiality and fabric evolution of granular media in circular shear simulated by DEM

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Abstract

The non-coaxiality of monotonous loading for granular materials has been studied in laboratory tests and simulations using the discrete element method (DEM). However, the non-coaxiality and its relation to the fabric evolution under the stress path of circular rotational shear in the deviatoric plane remain largely unanswered. To address this issue, we report a series of true triaxial DEM simulations on initial isotropic samples to investigate the effects of stress-induced anisotropy on non-coaxiality and its fabric evolution. The mechanical behavior was captured by continuously changing the Lode angle \(\theta _\sigma\) under a wide range of confining pressure \(\sigma _c\), while the deviatoric stress q remains constant. In addition, the role of inter-particle friction on the non-coaxial response has been explored to elaborate on the effects of the changing of micro-structure on the macro-mechanical performance. Simulation results indicate that the non-coaxiality is the function of the stress ratio \(\eta\), confining pressure \(\sigma _c\), and inter-particle friction, which could be related to the orientation variation of contact fabric. The deviation of \(\theta _{\text {d}\varvec{\varepsilon }}\) from the loading direction \(\theta _{\text {d}\varvec{\sigma }}\) gradually increase as the rise of stress ratio \(\eta\), while it shows an obvious decrease trend with the increase of confining pressure \(\sigma _c\) and inter-particle friction coefficient \(\mu\). As for fabric evolution, it verifies the correlation between the non-coaxial response and fabric evolution in rotational shear. The directional evolution of incremental fabric \(\theta _{\text {d}\varvec{F}}\) are sensitive to stress ratio \(\eta\), while it is insensitive to confining pressure \(\sigma _c\) and inter-particle friction coefficient \(\mu\) than the non-coaxial response.

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Acknowledgements

The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 12162028), the Project for Leading Talents of Science and Technology Innovation of Ningxia (Grant No. KJT2019001), and the Key R &D Program of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Projects of International Cooperation and Exchanges (Grant No. 2018DWHZ0084), which are gratefully acknowledged.

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  1. School of Physics and Electronic-Electrical Engineering, Ningxia University, 489 Helanshan West Road, Yinchuan, 750021, China

    Kuangfei Li & Xuefeng Li

  2. Solid Mechanics Institute, Ningxia University, 489 Helanshan West Road, Yinchuan, 750021, China

    Kuangfei Li & Xuefeng Li

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Li, K., Li, X. On non-coaxiality and fabric evolution of granular media in circular shear simulated by DEM. Granular Matter 25, 48 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-023-01335-w

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