Critical length of force chains and shear band thickness in dense granular materials

This paper investigates the existence of the critical force chain length and the buckling of unconfined grain columns in dense granular materials. Tests on assemblies of flat pentagon photoelastic particles were first carried out to demonstrate the maximum length of force chains. Then, the theoretical buckling analysis and distinct element method (DEM) simulations for grain columns composed of mono-sized elliptical particles were performed. The results revealed the existence of critical column length, which is generally affected by the particle shapes, the rotational resistance at particle contact points and the end constraints to the grain columns. The interparticle friction does not have explicit effect on the critical force chain length, but it has significant influence on the grain column’s curvature when collapse takes place. The thickness of shear band in granular soils can be determined as the critical length of grain columns by appropriately imposing the constraints on the boundaries, as confirmed by DEM simulations and experimental results.