ROLE OF PARTICLE-SHAPE AND CONTACT PROFILE ON THE DYNAMIC-RESPONSE OFPARTICULATE MATERIALS

Experimental and numerical studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of particle shape and particle surface roughness on intergr anular load transfer, velocity and wavelength of a stress wave transmi tted through granular media subjected to explosive loading. Dynamic ph otoelasticity was used as the experimental technique to study stress-w ave propagation through granular media simulated by assemblies of elli ptical and circular particles with varying surface roughnesses. Numeri cal studies employed a computational scheme based on the distinct elem ent method. Results indicate that the shape of the particle affects bo th the velocity of the transmitted stress-wave pulse and the load-tran sfer characteristics. The wavelength shows no appreciable dependency o n the particle shape. Particle surface roughness seems to affect the l oad-transfer characteristics and the wave length, and to a limited ext ent, the wave velocity.