Soutenance de thèse : Joao GONCALVES DE OLIVEIRA CHUEIRE

Generalization of 3D meso-structures for a micro-structural approach of soil behavior

Doctorant : Joao GONCALVES DE OLIVEIRA CHUEIRE

Laboratoire INSA : GEOMAS

Ecole doctorale : ED162 : Mécanique, Energétique, Génie Civil, Acoustique de Lyon

In the field of granular materials, a link between the microscopic variables (contact force and displacement) and macroscopic variables (stress and strain) requires the usage of structures of the mesoscopic scale. A well-known mesostructure is the so-called Loops, geometrical figures formed by grains in contact. These structures tessellate the material domain into elementary partitions that account for the physics of granular materials. However, the definition of Loops is restricted to 2D conditions. In this thesis, we propose a definition and a procedure to extend the notion of Loops to the three-dimensional case. A weighted Delaunay Tessellation is used to divide a 3D specimen into tetrahedra, which are later merged to create the sought structures. The merging criterion is defined consistently with the one used for creating Loops in 2D. As the 3D structures do not match the mathematical definition of Loops, they will henceforth be called Clusters. To test this extension , a series of 3D DEM triaxial tests were performed in the software LIGGGHTS. Then, an application was developed to analyze the properties of Clusters during the loading path. It is shown that the average void ratio and deformability of Clusters increase with their size.
Furthermore, it is observed that the number of dense Clusters increases during macroscopic volumetric contraction whereas the number of loose Clusters increases during dilation.
Later, a relation between force chains, shear bands and Clusters is established. Finally, Loops and Clusters characteristics are compared, validating Clusters as extensions of Loops in 3D conditions.