A discrete element analysis of elastic properties of granular materials

The elastic properties of a regular packing of spheres with different tolerances were evaluated using the discrete element method to elucidate the mechanisms behind the discrepancies between laboratory experiments and theoretical predictions of the classic Hertz-Mindlin contact law. The simulations indicate that the elastic modulus of the packing is highly dependent on the coordination number and the magnitude and distribution of contact normal forces, and this dependence is macroscopically reflected as the influence of confining pressure and void ratio. The increase of coordination number and the uniformity of contact normal forces distribution with increasing confining pressure results in the stress exponent for elastic modulus being higher than 1/3 as predicted by the Hertz-Mindlin law. Furthermore, the simulations show that Poisson’s ratio of a granular packing is not a constant as commonly assumed, but rather it decreases as confining pressure increases. The variation of Poisson’s ratio appears to be a consequence of the increase of the coordination number rather than the increase of contact normal forces with confining pressure.