NEW DEVELOPMENTS OF MICROSCALE STUDY ON GRANULAR SOIL USING DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD

Microstructure and micromechanics of granular soils have been of interest to many researchers because of their significant role in the macroscale response. Discrete element method(DEM) is usually simpler, faster, and cheaper than the traditional experimental method and able to obtain some information that is difficult or inaccessible in the experimental method. In this paper, some new developments of the microscale study on granular soil using DEM are briefly reviewed. Some issues in numerical modeling such as density(mass) scaling and membrane boundary simulation are discussed. The new developments on microstructure study such as particle rotation and displacement and mesoscale void ratio distribution using DEM are analyzed. It is concluded that DEM is a powerful tool that can capture the discrete characteristics of the granular materials.