Fabric and Particle Shape Influence on K 0 of Granular Materials

This paper discusses the influence of fabric and particle shape on K 0-values of cohesionless materials using micromechanical analysis and the results from a series of tests. Following a simple analysis using Harr's probabilistic theory that illustrates the dependency of K 0 on particle shape, a rigorous micromechanical analysis is provided to take into account the effect of interparticle friction, particle shape and particle arrangement. The fabric effect is introduced via a joint density function of branch vectors. Both micromechanical analyses and experimental results show that the K 0-values are affected by fabric related to both the direction and the length of branch vectors. The effect of particle shape may be undermined if one only considers the directional variation of the density of branch vectors (or contact normals). The K 0-values are shown to be also affected by the direction in which deformation is restrained.