The anisotropy of a granular material's structure will influence its response to applied loads and deformations. Anisotropy can be either inherent (e.g. due to depositional process) or induced as a consequence of the applied stresses or strains. Discrete element simulations allow the interactions between individual particles to be explicitly simulated and the fabric can be quantified using a fabric tensor. The eigenvalues of this fabric tensor then give a measure of the anisotropy of the fabric. The coordination number is a particle scale scalar measure of the packing density of the material. The current study examines the evolution of the fabric of a granular material subject to cyclic loading, using two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) simulations. Isotropic consolidation modifies and reduces the inherent anisotropy, but anisotropic consolidation can accentuate anisotropy. The

No abstract