Tensile strength and fracture of cemented granular aggregates

Cemented granular aggregates include a broad class of geomaterials such as sedimentary rocks and some biomaterials such as the wheat endosperm. We present a 3D lattice element method for the simulation of such materials, modeled as a jammed assembly of particles bound together by a matrix partially...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:The European physical journal. E, Soft matter and biological physics Soft matter and biological physics, 2012-11, Vol.35 (11), p.117-117, Article 117
Main Authors: Affes, R., Delenne, J. -Y., Monerie, Y., Radjaï, F., Topin, V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and Medical Physics
Biophysics
Chemistry
Complex Fluids and Microfluidics
Complex Systems
Elasticity
Exact sciences and technology
General and physical chemistry
Life Sciences
Models, Theoretical
Nanotechnology
Physics
Physics and Astronomy
Polymer Sciences
Regular Article
Soft and Granular Matter
Stress, Mechanical
Surface physical chemistry
Surfaces and Interfaces
Tensile Strength
Thin Films
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Cemented granular aggregates include a broad class of geomaterials such as sedimentary rocks and some biomaterials such as the wheat endosperm. We present a 3D lattice element method for the simulation of such materials, modeled as a jammed assembly of particles bound together by a matrix partially filling the interstitial space. From extensive simulation data, we analyze the mechanical properties of aggregates subjected to tensile loading as a function of matrix volume fraction and particle-matrix adhesion. We observe a linear elastic behavior followed by a brutal failure along a fracture surface. The effective stiffness before failure increases almost linearly with the matrix volume fraction. We show that the tensile strength of the aggregates increases with both the increasing tensile strength at the particle-matrix interface and decreasing stress concentration as a function of matrix volume fraction. The proportion of broken bonds in the particle phase reveals a range of values of the particle-matrix adhesion and matrix volume fraction for which the cracks bypass the particles and hence no particle damage occurs. This limit is shown to depend on the relative toughness of the particle-matrix interface with respect to the particles. Graphical abstract
ISSN:1292-8941
1292-895X
DOI:10.1140/epje/i2012-12117-7