Effect of shape nonconvexity on the shear strength of granular media

We investigate the influence of particle shape nonconvexity on the shear strength and texture of granular materials. We consider regular trimers (clumps composed of three circular particles) described by a nonconvexity parameter depending on the relative positions of the particles. The contact dynam...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Saint-Cyr, B, Voivref, C, Delenne, J-Y, Radjai, F, Somay, P
Format: Conference Proceeding
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We investigate the influence of particle shape nonconvexity on the shear strength and texture of granular materials. We consider regular trimers (clumps composed of three circular particles) described by a nonconvexity parameter depending on the relative positions of the particles. The contact dynamics method is used to shear large samples of trimers with different levels of nonconvexity. The solid fraction is a nonmonotonous function of nonconvexity. The shear strength increases with nonconvexity and saturates. We show that the increase of shear strength results from the presence of multiple contacts between trimers leading to enhanced frictional interlocking. The double and triple contacts are less in proportion but carry the largest forces in the packing. The saturation is related to the fact that the contact orientation anisotropy declines and compensates the increase of the normal force anisotropy, so that the shear strength remains constant.
ISSN:0094-243X
DOI:10.1063/1.3179941