Abstract
A numerical model of discrete element – liquid bridge – liquid thin film system for mesoscopic hydro-mechanical analysis of wet deforming granular medium at low saturation is proposed. A numerical scheme for the model is devised and implemented to construct initial meso-structure of representative volume element (RVE) of wet discrete particle assembly with low saturation degree of liquid, particularly liquid bridge system among neighboring particles and liquid thin films adhered on the surfaces of particles, where no liquid bridges are covered. Three mechanisms governing evolution of the liquid bridge – liquid thin film system and liquid transfer along particle gaps are studied and integrated into the numerical model. A staggered and iterative DEM based solution procedure for mesoscopic hydro-mechanical modelling of wet RVE is formulated and implemented. Meso-hydro-mechanically informed constitutive curves for unsaturated porous continua can be extracted without need of macroscopic phenomenological constitutive relations and associated material parameters.
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