Discrete Element Method for Modeling the Mechanical Behavior of Unsaturated Granular Material

Although a significant portion of conditions encountered in geotechnical engineering, for investigating engineering behavior of soil, involves unsaturated soils; the traditional analysis and design approach has been to assume the limiting conditions of soils being either completely dry or completely saturated. In unsaturated soils the capillary force produce attractive forces between particles. Discrete Element Method (DEM) is an appropriate tool to consider the capillary effects. The calculations performed in DEM is based on iterative application of Newton’s second law to the particles and force-displacement law at the contacts. In the present study, the behavior of unsaturated soils in pendular regime is simulated utilizing DEM. Triaxial compression tests were modeled as two-dimensional, considering capillary force effects. Finally, capillary effects on Macro parameters of a simulated granular soil (stress, axial strain, volumetric strain and void ratio) and Mohr Coulomb failure criteria parameters were studied.