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Discrete Element Modeling Of Dry Granular Material Using A Massively Parallel Supercomputer, David W. Washington

Dissertations

It is the state-of -the-art within Geotechnical Engineering to model soils as systems of particles rather than using the traditional continuum approach. Simulating these systems of particles for geotechnical boundary value problems results in systems which are of necessity large, motivating the application of massively parallel supercomputers. This thesis pursues such an approach.

The following work describes numerical experiments using a Discrete Element Method (DEM) paradigm for soils (Trubal) together with massively parallel computers with Single Instruction Multiple Data (SIMD) architecture. The discrete element method describes the behavior of granular assemblies using the classical mechanics of discrete bodies. The computational …

Particle Dynamics Modeling Of Vibrating Granular Beds, Yidan Lan

Dissertations

Particle dynamics modeling is done to study the behavior of granular beds subjected to vibrations imposed by a plane boundary which oscillates sinusoidally about a zero mean speed. Significant differences between the lower and higher shaking acceleration regions are found for the granular temperature and solids fraction depth profiles, which characterize the effectiveness of the boundary in fluidizing the beds. When higher accelerations are applied, the temperature is maximum at the vibrating floor and attenuates through the depth, while the solids fraction profiles exhibit a maximum at some intermediate depth. At lower acceleration values, most of the mass is located …

The Influence Of Pore Fluids On Shear Strength And Stress-Strain Behavior Of Granular Soils, Prasanna Ratnaweera

Dissertations

When a dry granular soil is subjected to an external load, the stresses are transferred through mineral to mineral contacts. The shear strength of such a soil is governed by its contact properties. Presence of a thin layer of fluid between mineral to mineral contacts in a saturated soil will alter its contact properties. Therefore any change in the physical properties of pore fluid can logically be reasoned to influence the deformation characteristics of granular soils.

To investigate the influence of pore fluid viscosity on shear strength and stress-strain behavior of a soil, a series of consolidated drained triaxial tests …