On the relevance of the meso-scale in an upscaling approach for granular materials

Abstract

This paper deals with the interest of upscaling from a meso-scale understand and model the mechanical behavior of granular materials. The meso-domains associated to the meso-scale are defined as closed loops of particles in contact. Six sets of meso-domains with different local textures called “phases” have been defined. The analysis of the behavior of these phases through 2D DEMsimulations of a compression test followed by an extension test has allowed the discriminant evolution of the structure and then the role of the different phases at the meso-scale to be evidenced. Constitutive modeling of granular materials can advantageously be developed from the meso-scale where the principles of continuum mechanics apply.