Richard Wan

Multiscale Computation of Failure in Granular Materials covers the multiscale modeling of geomaterials, referencing their mechanical and failure behaviors. Multiscale approaches introduce underlying particle micromechanics, giving way to enriched or structured macroscopic constitutive relationships endowed with small scale information. The pertinence of such models in continuum approaches, such as the finite element method in capturing rich failure modes implicating strain localization and fracture and diffuse phenomena is highlighted, along with an analysis of failure through discrete element modeling. Finally, the presence of liquid and gas phases within a granular material is covered in relation to saturated and partially saturated media.

Failure in Geomaterials offers a unified view of material failure as an instability of deformation modes framed within the theory of bifurcation. Using mathematical rigor, logic, physical reasoning and basic principles of mechanics, the authors develop the fundamentals of failure in geomaterials based on the second-order work criterion. Various forms of rupture modes and material instabilities in granular materials are explored both analytically and numerically with lab experimental observations on sand as a backdrop. The authors provide a clear picture of inelastic deformations and failure of geomaterials under various loading conditions. A unique feature of the book is the systematic application of the developed theory to the failure analysis of some selected engineering problems such as soil nailing, landslides, energy resource extraction, and internal erosion in soils.