Static characteristics of admissible stress fields in loose sand heaps loaded by self weight

摘要

Due to the friction among the sand particles, the sand heap can keep its shape without lateral constaints. The sand heap loaded by self-weight with traction-free surfaces should be inclined at either the friction angle or less than the friction angle. The stress distribution within a static sand heap under the condition of incipient failure everywhere is one of the fundamental problems of granular mechanics. The numerical schemes using the Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion and necessary governing equations for which Newton-Raphson method is employed are presented and discussed.