Simulation of Upward Seepage Flow in a Single Column of Spheres Using Discrete-Element Method with Fluid-Particle Interaction
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 1
Abstract
The interaction between soil particles and pore water makes the behavior of saturated and unsaturated soil complex. In this note, upward seepage flow through a granular material was idealized using a one-column particle model. The motion of the individual particles was numerically simulated using the discrete-element method taking the interaction with the fluid into account. The fluid behavior was simulated by the Navier-Stokes equation using the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equation. This approach has already been applied in powder engineering applications. However, there are very few studies that have used this approach in geotechnical engineering. This note first describes the qualitative and quantitative validation of this method for hydraulic gradients below the critical one by comparing the results with an analytical solution. Then, the ability of the method to simulate the macroscale behavior due to the interaction between particles and pore water at hydraulic gradients exceeding the critical hydraulic gradient is discussed.
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Acknowledgments
This research was mainly conducted at the University of Southern California in the United States where the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology supported the first writer’s visit. Further, it was supported in part by the Maeda Engineering Foundation’s Research Grant. Grateful appreciation is expressed for these supports. The writers also thank Chandra S. Desai, Regents’ Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., for his insightful comments on this note.
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© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 18, 2005
Accepted: Aug 9, 2006
Published online: Jan 1, 2007
Published in print: Jan 2007
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