Simulation of the Mechanical Behavior of Fiber Reinforced Sand using the Discrete Element Method

Abstract

The general characteristics of granular soils reinforced with fibres have been reported in previous studies and have shown that fibre inclusion provides an increase in material strength and ductility and that the composite behaviour is governed by fibre content, as well as the mechanical and geometrical properties of the fibre. The present work presents a numerical procedure to incorporate fiber elements into an existing discrete element code (GeoDEM). The fiber elements are represented by linear elastic-plastic segments that connect two neighbor contacts where the fiber is located. These elements are characterized by an axial stiffness, tensile strength and length. The effect of the addition of fibers was evaluated numerically by comparing the stress-strain behavior of a pure sand with and without fibers. These simulations showed that the addition of fibers provides a significant increase in strength for the mixture in comparison with strength of the pure sand.