On the degradation of granular materials due to internal erosion

Abstract

A new state-based elasto-plastic constitutive relationship along with the discrete element model is established to estimate the degradation of granular materials due to internal erosion. Four essential effects of internal erosion such as the force network damage and relaxation are proposed and then incorporated into the constitutive relationship to formulate internal erosion impacts on the mechanical behavior of granular materials. Most manifestations in the degradation of granular materials, such as reduction of peak strength and dilatancy are predicted by the modified constitutive relationship in good agreement with the discrete element method (DEM) simulation. In particular, the sudden reduction of stress for conspicuous mass erosion in a high stress state is captured by force network damage and the relaxation mechanism. It is concluded that the new modified constitutive relationship is a potential theory to describe the degradation of granular materials due to internal erosion and would be very useful, for instance, in the prediction and assessment of piping disaster risk during the flood season.

Scale separation between grain detachment and grain transport in granular media subjected to an internal flow

“…The medium sample evolves in an isochoric way with a stress peak immediately followed by a plateau. These three mechanical responses are consistent with those classically observed both in the laboratory (Terzaghi et al, 1996) and from discrete numerical simulations (Scholtès et al, 2010, Wang andLi, 2015). Moreover, one can highlight the existence of a unique critical state, as described in the classical critical state theory in soil mechanics (Schofield and Wroth, 1968).…”

A modified subloading Cam-clay model for granular soils subjected to suffusion

“…It was found that the erosion-induced deformations were large for the high stress ratios, which was also validated by the DEM simulations. Four erosion-induced effects were put forward, and quantitative relationships between four effects and the loss of fine particles were established through the DEM simulations (Wang et al, 2015). Both strength and deformation responses simulated by the new elastoplastic constitutive model along with four effects were in good agreement with the DEM simulations.…”

“…where 𝑝 0 is the atmospheric pressure or the reference pressure, taken as 101 kPa in this study (Wang and Li, 2015).…”

Sustaining Hydrothermal Circulation With Gravity Relevant to Ocean Worlds

“…We also don't know the extent or nature of sedimentary cover on the bottom of ocean-world oceans, but (given a lack of plate tectonics) there are good reasons to suspect that seafloor sediments could accumulate from sources including: meteoroid impacts and subsequent cycling of an icy shell, direct precipitation from ocean water, hydrothermal precipitation, and/or grinding of particles during mixing of a poorly consolidated core (e.g., Blackman et al, 2022;Cave et al, 2002;Hodgkinson et al, 2015;Melwani Daswani et al, 2021;Poppe, 2016;Roberts, 2015;Wang & Li, 2015;Zolotov & Shock, 2004). The long residence time of the seafloor of ocean worlds, where volcanic replacement of outer core layers occurs infrequently, if at all, means that even sedimentation rates that are low in comparison to Earth's abyssal ocean (where background accumulation rates are Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 10.1029/2023JE008202 ∼mm/kyr) could result in sedimentary layers meters to kilometers thick.…”