Investigation of micro-macro relationships of elastic parameters in the discrete element model of granular material

Abstract

A general objective of the paper is to improve understanding of micromechanical mechanisms in granular materials and their representation in numerical models. Results of numerical investigation on micro-macro relationships in the discrete element model of granular material are presented. The macroscopic response was analysed in a series of simulations of the triaxial compression test. Numerical studies were focused on the influence of microscopic parameters on the elastic response. The effect of the contact stiffness and the contact stiffness ratio on the effective elastic moduli, the Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio, were investigated. Numerical results were compared with the analytical estimations.