2022/03/04 by John P. de Bono, John de Bono, G. R. McDowell +1 · 36 citations
Engineering · Environmental Science · Mathematics · #Composite material #Compression (physics) #Element (criminal law) #Geology #Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics #Geotechnical engineering #Landslides and related hazards #Materials science #Mathematics #Soil and Unsaturated Flow
paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.jmps.2022.104847
published in Journal of the Mechanics and Physics of Solids 162, 104847 (Elsevier BV)
openalex publication_date 2022/03/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/03
The discrete element method (DEM) has only rarely been used to simulate clay, due to difficulties in modelling clay particle shape and capturing the various particle interactions. This paper presents a new approach to simulate clay in three dimensions using DEM, featuring realistic particle shape and a new straightforward interaction law, which is able to reproduce all well-known characteristic platelet interactions. By varying the interactions between the platelets (including both the ‘edges’ and ‘faces’), it is possible to account for a range of environmental conditions. Simple sedimentation and one-dimensional compression tests are presented, which correctly reproduce the expected behaviour, confirming the validity of the model. Particle-scale analysis reveals the influence of the platelet interactions on the bulk behaviour, and it is also shown that platelet aggregation appears to lead to a fractal distribution of aggregated ‘stack’ sizes as a means of space filling.