DISCRETE-ELEMENT METHOD FOR SIMULATING BEHAVIOR OF COHESIVE SOIL

The discrete-element method has successfully been applied in the past to study constitutive behavior of granular materials. The method is ap plied in this paper to cohesive soils, where in addition to mechanical forces, there are physicochemical forces between particles, and there is significant bending of individual particles. Based on a recent stu dy on the double-layer repulsive force between inclined particles, the repulsive force is modeled approximately. The attractive force betwee n particles is not considered in the present study. Dividing each part icle into a number of interconnected discrete elements, bending of par ticles is simulated as part of the overall analysis. By employing suit able force-displacement laws for the mechanical contacts, formation of new contacts, deletion of existing contacts, and slip between particl es are modeled. The preliminary results presented here show the potent ial of the method for carrying out fundamental research into the stres s-strain behavior of cohesive soils.