Numerical analysis of compression mechanics of highly polydisperse granular mixtures with different PSD-s

Abstract

The deformation of three-dimensional highly polydisperse packings of frictional spheres with continuous unimodal and discrete uniform particle size distributions (PSDs) under uniaxial compression was investigated, using the discrete element method. The stress transmission and elasticity parameters, i.e., the effective elastic modulus and the Poisson’s ratio of the granular assemblies were examined; these parameters are important in many engineering disciplines. The influence of the shape of the PSD on the porosity and the transmission of pressures in samples was observed; however, the shape of the PSD did not affect the stiffness and the Poisson’s ratio of polydisperse granular packings. The results revealed that, in some cases, knowledge of the grain size distribution is not a critical issue for modeling granular packings composed of non-uniformly sized spheres.