Abstract
Abstract It has recently been shown that the one-dimensional normal compression of sand can be modelled effectively in three-dimensions using the discrete element method, and that the slope of the compression curve (in log voids ratio–log stress space) is controlled by the size effect on average particle strength. This paper incorporates soil structure by simulating cemented sand, and the effects of inter-particle bonding (including bond strength and strength distributions) on the one-dimensional compression behaviour and evolving particle size distributions are investigated. The results show that bonding reduces particle crushing, and it is both the magnitude and distribution of bond strengths that influence the compression curve of the structured material.
Highlights
Both cemented and uncemented materials exhibit some similarities in compression; both demonstrate stiff, primarily elastic behaviour before yield and particle crushing
The addition of cement is known to increase the yield stress and enlarge the zone in voids ratio–log stress space that a material can exist in [1,2,3], meaning cemented sand can exist in states impossible for the uncemented soil, with these effects increasing with the degree of cementation
The simulations representing cemented sand converge towards the intrinsic normal compression lines (NCLs), with increasing the quantity of bonds causing the post-yield compression line to become steeper
Summary
Both cemented and uncemented materials exhibit some similarities in compression; both demonstrate stiff, primarily elastic behaviour (in addition to plastic rearrangement of particles) before yield and particle crushing. Silica sands are generally much stronger than naturally occurring carbonate sands and organic soils and so exhibit larger yield stresses in compression. Some of the literature considers isotropic compression and some one-dimensional compression, it is widely accepted that soils have the same compression slope in both [9,10,11]
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