SIMULATION OF SOIL DEFORMATION AND STRESS VARIATION AT THREE AXIAL COMPRESSION BY THE DISTINCT ELEMENT METHOD

摘要

Many methods are applied to analyze dynamic interactions between soil and vehicles or machines which contact with soil. The Finite Element Method (FEM) has been used for many analyses of the interaction. In the simulation by the FEM, the analyzed object is assumed as a continuum. However, machine parts often cut or separate soil. We cannot easily analyze these phenomena by the FEM. That is because soil is originally a granular assembly. The Distinct Element Method (DEM) has been applied to many analyses of behavior of assemblies of discrete particles in the field of powder technology and so on. The elastic and inelastic properties at the contact between the particles are expressed by a spring and a dashpot. The contact forces between a particle and other particles are calculated from the overlap quantities between those particles by the spring constant and the viscous damping constant. And there were some studies by the DEM in the field of soil mechanics, too. The element in these analyses was not formed like soil, but like rock. This paper describes the DEM simulation program and the simulation results of the quasi-static mechanical behavior of soil in the triaxial compression test.