Geomechanics And Geotechnics Of Particulate Media

Microscopic re-examination of geomaterials consisting of aggregates can shed light on macroscopic behaviour, including compressibility, anisotropy, yielding, creep, cyclic liquefaction and shear rupture. As a result of this process of examination, new methods of material characterization emerge, leading to a greater degree of accuracy in the specification of new constitutive models with physically-meaningful parameters. The impetus behind this development is an increasing awareness on sustainability, leading to the more efficient use of recycled materials for geotechnical applications. The characteristics of recycled materials, such as compressibility and self-hardening, may differ significantly from those of natural materials, and it is crucial that evaluation is made from a specifically particulate perspective.

The first single work on DEM providing the information to get started with this powerful numerical modelling approach. Provides the basic details of the numerical method and the approaches used to interpret the results of DEM simulations. It will be of use to professionals, researchers and higher level students, with a theoretical overview of DEM as well as practical guidance.Selected Contents: 1.Introduction 2.Use of DEM in Geomechanics 3.Calculation of Contact Forces 4.Particle Motion 5.Particle Types 6.Boundary Conditions 7.Initial Geometry and Specimen Generation 8.Time Integration and Discrete Element Modelling 9.DEM Interpretation: A Continuum Perspective 10.Postprocessing: Graphical Interpretation of DEM Simulations 11.Basic Statisti

Soils are composed of grains but they are generally treated as continua in the classical framework of geomechanics. Their macroscopic response under loading, such as their non-linearity, yielding and anisotropy, is controlled by their micro-structure, the characteristics of the grains and the disposition of contacts between them. There have been rapid advances in technology both to investigate the microscopic properties of soils, and to simulate their granular behaviour explicitly through Discrete Element Method (DEM). DEM was originally used to ...

J. Carlos Santamarina, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA in collaboration with Katherine A. Klein, University of Toronto, Canada; Moheb A. Fam, Cairo University, Egypt Soils are unique materials. Analogous to all other particulate materials, their properties depend on environmental parameters, such as confinement and fluid characteristics. While their behavior is complex, simple micromechanical analyses at the particle level provide unparalleled insight. Furthermore, elastic and electromagnetic waves can be effectively used to gain complementary information about the particulate medium, leading to unique possibilities for studies in engineering and science, including field applications for site assessment and process monitoring. This book is divided into five parts. The first part dwells on the problem of scale and includes a general introduction to materials. In the second part, the behavior of particulate materials is reviewed, with emphasis on the microscale interpretation of macroscale behavior. Fundamental differences between fine and coarse particulate materials are highlighted. The third and fourth parts center on the propagation of mechanical and electromagnetic waves in particulate materials, addressing phenomena such as stiffness, polarization and losses. These two units include laboratory techniques to measure the elastic and electromagnetic spectral response of particulate materials, and an extensive compilation of experimental data. Finally, the fifth part applies elastic and electromagnetic waves to monitoring process in soils. Emphasis is placed on clear, simple analyses and explanations of complex physical phenomena, making this book ideal for self-study. Furthermore, no other book provides such an in-depth description of soils and their behavior and the interaction of elastic and electromagnetic waves and particulate materials (including material data and experimental methods). Thus, this is an invaluable reference for postgraduates, research scientists and practitioners in geotechnical, civil and environmental engineering, as well as scientists in related areas such as physics, geophysics and materials science.

This single-volume thoroughly summarizes advances in the past several decades and emerging challenges in fundamental research in geotechnical engineering. These fundamental research frontiers are critically reviewed and described in details in lights of four grand challenges our society faces: climate adaptation, urban sustainability, energy and material resources, and global water resources. The specific areas critically reviewed, carefully examined, and envisioned are: sensing and measurement, soil properties and their physics roots, multiscale and multiphysics processes in soil, geochemical processes for resilient and sustainable geosystems, biological processes in geotechnics, unsaturated soil mechanics, coupled flow processes in soil, thermal processes in geotechnical engineering, and rock mechanics in the 21st century.

Integrating and blending traditional theory with particle-energy-field theory, this book provides a framework for the analysis of soil behaviour under varied environmental conditions. This book explains the why and how of geotechnical engineering in an environmental context. Using both SI and Imperial units, the authors cover: rock mechanics soil mechanics and hydrogeology soil properties and classifications and issues relating to contaminated land. Students of civil, geotechnical and environmental engineering and practitioners unfamiliar with the particle-energy-field concept, will find that this book's novel approach helps to clarify the complex theory behind geotechnics.