Pressure-dependent elastic moduli of granular assemblies

✍ Scribed by Liao, Ching L.; Chan, Tian C.; Suiker, Akke S. J.; Chang, Ching S.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 144 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0363-9061
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1096-9853(200003)24:3<265::aid-nag65>3.0.co;2-x

✦ Synopsis

Conventional homogenization theories developed for a matrix-inclusion system cannot be used for deriving the pressure-dependent elastic behaviour of a granular material. This is caused by the lack of a proper description of the high stress concentrations at the particle contacts. This paper discusses a more suitable homogenization theory, which follows from micro-structural considerations at the particle level. Accordingly, for an assembly of isotropically distributed, equal-sized spherical particles, expressions for the pressure-dependent shear modulus and the Poisson's ratio are derived. This is done for the case of hydrostatic compression. The derivation of these equations is based on the so-called best-,t hypothesis of the actual displacement "eld in the granular assembly. The usefulness of the equation derived for the shear modulus is illustrated via a comparison with experiment results.