The Compactions of Elasto-Plastic and Visco-Plastic Granular Assemblies

Abstract

In this paper, the compactions of the elasto-plastic and the visco-plastic granular assemblies are simulated using the finite element method. Governing equations for motion and deformation for particles, including coupling of rigid body motion and deformation for deformable bodies, are investigated. An implicit discrete element method for block systems is developed to make visco-plastic analysis for the assemblies. Among particles, three different contact types, cohering, rubbing and sliding, are taken into account. To verify accuracy and efficiency of the numerical method, some numerical example is simulated and the results are in a satisfactory agreement with the solutions in literatures. The effects of frictional condition, the initial solid volume ratio, the number of particles in the assembly, and different types of compact- tion on the compaction of the elasto-plastic and the visco-plastic aggregates are investigated. It is demonstrated that the effect of frictional condition, the initial solid volume ratio, the number of particles in the assembly, and different types of compaction on the global behavior of the elasto-plastic the visco-plastic granular assemblies under compacting are considerable. The numerical model is extended to simulate the compaction of aggregates consisting of mixed particles of different viscous incompressible materials. It is indicated that, with minor modification, the method could be used in a variety of problems that can be represented using granular media, such as asphalt, polymers, aluminum, snow, food product, etc.