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Title: DEM study of fabric features governing undrained post-liquefaction shear deformation of sand

Journal Article · · Acta Geotechnica
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In an effort to study undrained post-liquefaction shear deformation of sand, the discrete element method (DEM) is adopted to conduct undrained cyclic biaxial compression simulations on granular assemblies consisting of 2D circular particles. The simulations are able to successfully reproduce the generation and eventual saturation of shear strain through the series of liquefaction states that the material experiences during cyclic loading after the initial liquefaction. Also, DEM simulations with different deviatoric stress amplitudes and initial mean effective stresses on samples with different void ratios and loading histories are carried out to investigate the relationship between various mechanics- or fabric-related variables and post-liquefaction shear strain development. It is found that well-known metrics such as deviatoric stress amplitude, initial mean effective stress, void ratio, contact normal fabric anisotropy intensity, and coordination number, are not adequately correlated to the observed shear strain development and, therefore, could not possibly be used for its prediction. A new fabric entity, namely the Mean Neighboring Particle Distance (MNPD), is introduced to reflect the space arrangement of particles. It is found that the MNPD has an extremely strong and definitive relationship with the post-liquefaction shear strain development, showing MNPD’s potential role as a parameter governing post-liquefaction behavior of sand.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-07NA27344
OSTI ID:
1328542
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1341944
Report Number(s):
LLNL-JRNL-681216; PII: 499
Journal Information:
Acta Geotechnica, Journal Name: Acta Geotechnica Vol. 11 Journal Issue: 6; ISSN 1861-1125
Publisher:
Springer Science + Business MediaCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 75 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (11)

3D DEM simulation of principal stress rotation in different planes of cross‐anisotropic granular materials
  • Xue, Long; Kruyt, Niels P.; Wang, Rui
  • International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 43, Issue 14 https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.2945
journal July 2019
Modeling cyclic shearing of sands in the semifluidized state
  • Barrero, Andres R.; Taiebat, Mahdi; Dafalias, Yannis F.
  • International Journal for Numerical and Analytical Methods in Geomechanics, Vol. 44, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/nag.3007
journal December 2019
A constitutive model for granular materials with evolving contact structure and contact forces—part II: constitutive equations journal February 2019
A novel experimental system for studying the sand liquefaction characteristics from macroscopic and microscopic points of view journal December 2019
DEM analysis of the onset of flow deformation of sands: linking monotonic and cyclic undrained behaviours journal April 2018
Why the OCR may reduce the small strain shear stiffness of granular materials? journal July 2018
Centrifuge shaking table tests on 4 × 4 pile groups in liquefiable ground journal July 2018
ISA-Hypoplasticity accounting for cyclic mobility effects for liquefaction analysis journal July 2019
DEM study on the undrained mechanical behavior of gassy sand journal January 2020
Prediction of the tunnel displacement induced by laterally adjacent excavations using multivariate adaptive regression splines journal February 2020
Discrete-element method analysis of initial fabric effects on pre- and post-liquefaction behavior of sands journal June 2017

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Related Subjects

42 ENGINEERING
58 GEOSCIENCES
DEM
Fabric
Sand liquefaction
Shear deformation
Undrained cyclic biaxial