Discrete Simulations of Particulate-Structure Interactions

The design of structures that come into contact with granular soils is typically based on continuum plasticity theory with empirical modifications to improve agreement with observed system response. These approaches have the advantage of experience, but results are often not portable across structure types, construction methods, or site conditions. This lack of portability arises from the empirical nature of project-specific modifications to the original theories. Thus, traditional methods typically require a significant amount of input information, such as that available from thorough and well-formed laboratory and/or in-situ testing programs. These testing programs are viable for many large projects, but that may not always be the case (consider, for example, lunar or Martian colonization). Thus, it is necessary to develop models that can be calibrated based on small quantities of soil and subsequently used for design. In this paper, we present results from simple discrete element method (DEM) simulations of shallow foundations in contact with granular material. Results are shown to qualitatively reproduce expected response based on traditional analyses. This implies that the current models may be reasonably used for parametric analyses to assess impact of design parameters on system response. Preliminary results are presented for both terrestrial and low-gravity environments.