A limitation of using laboratory experiments to study the micromechanics of soils is that detailed information about the specimen microstructure is typically available at only one state in a test sequence due to the destructive nature of the forensic process. To study microstructure evolution, characterization of replicate specimens tested to various global axial strain levels has been undertaken, but this procedure presents some practical and theoretical problems. Accordingly, a numerical program was undertaken using the discrete element method to model the micromechanical deformation response of particulate assemblies in two dimensions. The simulated assemblies failed via regions of high localized strain. The microstructures of these assemblies were studied as a function of global axial strain to assess evolution of local and mesoscale void ratio distributions and mean free paths. Local void ratio distributions were modeled statistically and mesoscale measurements were used to assess microstructure inside and outside of the shear bands.
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