Interparticle Contact Behavior and Wave Propagation
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical Engineering
Volume 122, Issue 10
Abstract
The low-strain stiffness and energy dissipation in particulate materials is strongly determined by the behavior of contacts. This paper presents results of a test program designed to study the effect of contact response on the propagation of waves. Wave velocity and attenuation were measured during isotropic loading using a resonant column device at shear strains varying from γ= 10 −5 to γ= 10 −6 . Elastic, viscoplastic and brittle contact behaviors were studied with steel spheres, lead shot, and silica-kaolinite pellets. All measured velocity-stress exponents were b /2 >≈ 1/6, which is the theoretical value for spherical contacts. High-tolerance steel spheres approximated this value. Contact crushing showed the highest exponent. Theoretical analyses confirmed that several phenomena conduce to a velocity-stress exponent b /2 = 0.25: buckling of particle chains and increase in coordination number, elastoplastic behavior, and cone-plane contacts. Load and unload data for viscoplastic lead shot showed that contact deformation is the governing parameter for low-strain stiffness, regardless whether the causing mechanism was elastic deformation, creep, or yield. All measured damping-stress exponents were between κ=−0.45 for steel and κ=−0.11 for the brittle pellets, while the theoretical value for frictional Mindlin contacts is κ=−2/3. Damping showed higher sensitivity than velocity to stress and time.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Acar, Y. B., and El-Tahir, E. A.(1986). “Low strain dynamic properties of artificially cemented sand.”J. Geotech. Engrg., ASCE, 112(11), 1001–1015.
2.
Chang, C. S., Misra, A., and Sundaram, S. S.(1991). “Properties of granular packings under low amplitude cyclic loading.”Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engrg., 10(4), 201–211.
3.
Deresiewicz, H. (1973). “Bodies in contact with applications to granular media.”R. D. Mindlin and Applied Mechanics, G. Herrmann, ed., Pergamon Press, New York, N.Y., 105–145.
4.
Duffy, J., and Mindlin, R. D.(1957). “Stress-strain relations of a granular medium.”J. Appl. Mech., 24(4), 585–593.
5.
Feda, J. (1992). “Creep of soils and related phenomena.” Developments in Geotechnical Engineering, 68, Elsevier-Academia, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
6.
Field, W. G. (1963). “Towards the statistical definition of granular mass.”Proc., 4th Australian and New Zeland Conf. on Soil Mech., Instn. of Engrs., Australia, 143–148.
7.
Goddard, J. D. (1990). “Nonlinear elasticity and pressure-dependent wave speeds in granular media.”Proc., Royal Society of London, London, England, Vol. 430, 105–131.
8.
Hardin, B. O., and Black, W. L. (1966). “Sand stiffness under various triaxial stresses.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., ASCE, 92(2), 27–42.
9.
Hardin, B. O., and Drnevich, V. P.(1972). “Shear modulus and damping in soils: Measurements and parameter effects.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg., ASCE, 98(6), 603–624.
10.
Hardin, B. O., and Richart, Jr.(1963). “Elastic wave velocities in granular soils.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Div., ASCE, 89(1), 33–63.
11.
Ishihara, K. (1986). “Evaluation of soil properties for use in earthquake response analysis.”Geomechanical Modelling in Engineering Practice, Dungar and J. A. Studer, eds., A. A. Balkema Publishers, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
12.
Lee, E. H., and Radok, J. R. M.(1960). “The contact problem for viscoelastic bodies.”Trans. of the ASME J. Appl. Mech., 27(9), 438–444.
13.
Petrakis, E., and Dobry, R. (1987). “Micromechanical modeling of granular soil at small strain by arrays of elastic spheres.”Rep. CE-87-02, Dept. of Civ. Engrg., Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, N.Y.
14.
Richart, Jr., F. E., Hall, J. R., and Woods, R. D. (1970). Vibration of soils and foundations . Prentice Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
15.
Rothenburg, L., and Bathurst, R. J.(1989). “Analytical study of induced anisotropy in idealized granular material.”Geotechnique, London England, 39(4), 601–614.
16.
Santamarina, J. C., and Cascante, G. (1996). “Stress anisotropy and wave propagation—A micromechanical view.”Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 33, October.
17.
Saxena, S. K., and Avramidis, A. S.(1988). “Dynamic moduli and damping ratios for cemented sands at low strains.”Can. Geotech. J., 25(2), 353–368.
18.
Scott, G. D., Charlesworth, A. M., and Mak, M. K.(1964). “On the random packing of spheres.”J. Chem. Phys., 40(2), 611–612.
19.
Singh, A., and Mitchell, J. K.(1968). “General stress-strain-time function for soils.”J. Soil Mech. and Found. Engrg. Div., ASCE, 94(1), 21–46.
20.
Smith, W. O., and Foote, P. D.(1929). “Packing of homogeneous spheres.”Phys. Rev., 34(9), 1271–1274.
21.
Stokoe, K. H., Lee, S. H., and Knox, D. P. (1985). “Shear moduli measurements under true triaxial stresses.”Proc., Adv. in the Art of Testing Soils Under Cyclic Conditions, Geotech. Engrg. Div., ASCE, New York, N.Y., 166–185.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1996 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Oct 1, 1996
Published in print: Oct 1996
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.