Research Proposal: Commented [Sanjay1]: Please do not worry about the

length. The proposal can be upto 6 pages and we can always

remove whoever unnecessary during revision.
The cCoupled FEM-DEM Modelling of Dynamic Pile Penetration in Crushable Sand
Commented [Sanjay2]: Add a few images from literature.
Provide Table showing research plan over 4 years.
Introduction:
The behaviour of soils is complex due to its particulate nature. To analyse the soil behaviour
continuum numerical analysis such as finite element modelling method (FEM) and finite
difference methods are used along with complex constitutive models. However, this approach
does not account for complex particle scale interactions, including the crushing in granular
media due to dynamic and impact loads, that are responsible for macro-scale response observed.
This lead to increased use of particle based discrete element modelling (DEM) to analyse the
micro-mechanics of soil response in greater detail. However, DEM has some inherent
limitations such as modelling realistic geometry and detecting contact between particles and
conducting an effective stress analysis and modelling pore water pressure are complex and non-
trivial. Another important limitation of DEM is that it is computationally expensive to model
large number of particles present in the soil volumes large enough to be of practical interest.
Hence, to mitigate the computational effort both FEM and DEM are coupled to analyse a model.
In fact, several researchers have successfully coupled both the methods for a variety of static
and dynamic problems such as monotonic pile penetration in crushable sands, modelling of
geosynthetic-reinforced earth structures, etc. The coupled FEM-DEM method aims to combine Commented [Sanjay3]: This is outside the scope.
the best features of DEM and FEM and apply them to solve geomechanics problems more
accurately with an insignificant increase in computational time. Commented [Sanjay4]: Write about significance of
The determination of axial capacity of the pile is a complex problem which is affected by particle breakage and mention studies dealing with effect of
particle breakage on performance of geotechnical structures.
properties of soil and pile and also the process of pile installation. The understanding of
mechanics of soil-pile interaction during the pile installation and pile loading procedures are Commented [Sanjay5]: Please add a brief literature
review after introduction and state innovation of the
key to the develop more reliable and economic methods for pile design. The difficulty associated proposed topic.
with the formulation of pile penetration mechanism is due to factors including mechanical
properties of sand including soil density and particle breakage. Particle breakage in sands is
usually not considered when numerical modelling of any geomechanics problems. The crushing
of sand particles is responsible for reduction of pile capacity as it changes the internal structure
of sands causing reduction in angle of friction, stress relaxation in the periphery of pile and
formation of stress bands which could potentially cause the local failure in sand. Hence, the
particle breakage must be studied thoroughly to understand various mechanisms in pile
penetration.

Literature Review:

Cheng et al. (2004) simulated isotropic compression of crushable sand modelled as

agglomerates shown in figure 1 below, made by bonding elementary spherical discrete elements
and concluded that particle breakage underlies plastic behaviour of sands. Further, crushing
changes the grain size distribution of soil which changes the internal structure more drastically
than the particle rearrangement. The discrete element modelling of the crushable sands is
required to consider the effects of micromechanical interactions on the observed macroscopic
behaviour. However, using agglomerates required use of very large number of elementary
spheres for accurate simulation, which increases the computational time.
Formatted: Centered

Fig. 1 Examples of Agglomerates (From Cheng et al., 2004)

Crushable sand particles can also be modelled by DEM by replacing broken particles with
smaller fragments as shown in figure 2 below (de Bono and McDowell, 2014). de Bono and
McDowell (2014) simulated the triaxial tests of sand using DEM and observed that the dilation
is dependent on the particle strengths. The material with lower particle strength undergoes less
dilation particularly at higher confining stress as observed experimentally.

Figure 2 Splitting of Spherical Particles (From de Bono and McDowell, 2014)

Guo and Zhao (2014) simulated using monotonic biaxial compression and cyclic simple shear
tests using hierarchical multiscale framework for coupled finite element-discrete element
method, which is described below and found that using DEM it was possible to capture
inception of shear band, large dilation and rotation at the edges of shear band in simulation,
previously observed in laboratory tests. The method was also able to simulate the hysteresis
behaviour of sands in cyclic simple shear tests. OSullivan et al. (2006) were of the opinion that
DEM is useful in creating models where the micro-mechanics of soil response can be analysed
in detail and visualized, while monitoring certain parameters which are usually difficult to
measure in conventional laboratory testing.
Although modelling crushable sands using DEM is essential to simulate its realistic stress-strain
behaviour, simulating a practical model by DEM would involve using large number of particles
which would increase the computational time. Hence, for faster computation, DEM is coupled
with FEM, which is relatively faster. There are multiple ways to couple FEM and DEM
depending on the type of problem. One way would be for discrete elements representing
individual elements are meshed into finite elements for a detailed analysis of behaviour of
discrete elements. Another technique is called concurrent multiscale method in which the
problem domain is decomposed into a larger continuum subdomain, which undergoes small
deformations and a smaller discrete subdomain where the particulate behaviour is of interest.
Furthermore, there is another method termed hierarchical multiscale coupling between FEM
and DEM described in Guo and Zhao (2014). In this method, the problem domain is discretised
by finite element mesh and each Gaussian point is attached with a DEM assembly as depicted
in the figure 3 below. Behaviour of the finite elements is dependent on the behaviour of the
discrete elements and the displacements of the Gaussian points of the finite elements are taken
as the boundary condition for the discrete element assembly.
 Figure 3 Solution Procedure for Hierarchical Multiscale Modelling (From Guo and Zhao,
2014)

Zhou et al. (2012) studied the monotonic pile penetration in sands using concurrent coupled FE-
DE method. At the interface between continuum and discrete portion of model, contact forces
obtained from the discrete portion are applied to the continuum boundary as nodal forces, while
the interface velocities obtained from the finite elements at the interface and applied to the
discrete boundaries as shown in figure 4 below.

Figure 4 Surface Coupling of Continuum domain modelled using Finite Elements and Discrete
domain modelled using DEM (From Stransky and Jirasek, 2012)

In the simulation, pile tip resistance increases with penetration depth till a limiting depth where
it becomes a constant. The vertical stress field zone develops gradually as penetration depth
increases until it reaches a steady state at a limiting depth. Furthermore, the studies observed
that particle-particle and particle-pile contact forces increase with increase in penetration depth
till the limiting depth. This behaviour is consistent with observations made in field and
laboratory. However, the simulation did not account for the particle breakage, which is found
reduce the axial capacity of pile primarily due to two different mechanisms: reduction of
mobilised angle of shear resistance due to the particle breakage itself and stress relaxation of
the sand on the periphery of the pile due to migration of fines produced during crushing as well
as grain rearrangement (Lobo-Guerrero and Vallejo, 2005).
Wang and Zhao (2014) presented results of the simulation of monotonic pile penetration in
crushable sand using a FE-DE method coupled using concurrent multiscale method. The region
of the model near to the pile is dubbed as crushable zone and modelled using DEM and rest of
the domain was modelled using finite elements as shown in the figure 5 below.

Figure 5 Coupled FE-DE model for Monotonic Pile Penetration. Crushable Zone was
modelled using DEM and rest of the domain using FEM. (From Wang and Zhao, 2014)

In the study, they found that the simulation was able to reproduce the dependence of tip
resistance on both particle breakage and in-situ stress, with the influence of particle breakage
increasing as the strength of particles decrease. The simulate was also able to replicate the strain
reversal in sand after the passing of tip which was observed in field and laboratory. However,
in field pile installation is done using dynamic loads, which generates large local acceleration
and pressure waves in soil. The pressure waves cause compaction and particle breakage in the
front of the pile tip to a much greater extent than the monotonic penetration. The combination
of compaction and particle breakage would lead to formation of shear bands in certain regions
which affects the behaviour of piles (Yang et al., 2010).

Objectives:
a) Incorporating the pore water pressure generation mechanism in the contact constitutive Commented [Sanjay6]: No pore water pressure. This will
law of the discrete element model to take into account the increase in pore water pressure be dry sand crushing due to cyclic and impact loads.
when subjected to dynamic loading.
a) Development and validation of a coupled finite-discrete element model to simulate the
dynamic penetration of pile in crushable sand.
b) Understanding and parameterizing effect of various soil and pile properties on the
mechanisms of pile penetration such as formation of stress bands, particle breakage and
soil properties and its effects on axial capacity of pile.
Commented [Sanjay7]: You can add a schematic diagram
Research methodology: of pile foundation on crushable sand. Please discuss
scenarios why this topic is important. This discussion can be
added in the introduction.
a) Modifying the existing constitutive contact laws to incorporate the pore pressure
generation in the sand when the model is subjected to dynamic and impact loads.
a) Using free open source programs OOFEM ABAQUS for continuum portion of the model Commented [Sanjay8]: ABAQUS will be used for FEM.
and YADE PFC2D for the particulate portion of the model to simulate the dynamic Commented [Sanjay9]: PFC2D will be used for DEM.
penetration of the pile using optimal techniques for simulating particle breakage and
coupling between continuum and particulate portion of the model.
b) Comprehensive parametric study of effect of pile and soil parameters on the behaviour of
the model and micro-mechanisms of the sand.
c) The proposed work can be performed under the supervision of Dr Sanjay Nimbalkar from
University of Technology Sydney.

Expected Outcomes:
a) A comprehensive study of factors affecting the penetration of the pile and axial capacity of
pile in the crushable sand.
b) A detailed understanding into the micro-mechanics of the crushable sand during pile
penetration.

Research Plan:

b)

References: Commented [Sanjay10]: Add and cite more papers on

coupled FEM/DEM studies.
Cheng, Y.P., et al. (2004). Crushing and Plastic Deformation of Soils simulated using DEM, Commented [Sanjay11]: References are not cited in the
Geotechnique, Vol. 54, pp. 131-141. text.
Formatted: Font: Italic
de Bono, J. P. and McDowell, G.R. (2014). DEM of Triaxial Tests on Crushable Sands,
Granular Matter, Vol. 16, pp. 551-562.

Guo, N. and Zhao, J. (2014). A coupled FEM/DEM approach for hierarchical multiscale
modelling of granular media, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol.
99, pp. 789-818.

Lobo-Guerrero, S. and Vellejo, L.E., (2005). DEM analysis of crushing around driven Piles in
Granular Materials, Geotechnique, Vol 55, pp. 617-623.
OSullivan, C., et al. (2006). Experimental Validation of Particle-Based Discrete Element
Methods, GeoCongress 2006, Atlanta, Georgia.
Guo, N. and Zhao, J. (2014). A coupled FEM/DEM approach for hierarchical multiscale
modelling of granular media, International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering, Vol.
99, pp. 789-818.

Onate, E. and Rojek, J. (2004). Combination of discrete element and finite element methods for
dynamic analysis of geomechanics problems, Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and
Engineering, Vol. 193, pp. 3087-3128.

Stransky, J. and Jirasek, M. (2012). Open Source FEM-DEM Coupling. 18th International
Conference on Engineering Mechanics, Svratka, Czech Republic.

Wang, J. and Zhao, B. (2014). Discrete-continuum analysis of monotonic pile penetration in

crushable sands, Canadian Geotechnical Journal, Vol. 51, pp. 1095-1110.
Villard, P., et al. (2009). Coupling between finite and discrete element methods for the
modelling of earth structures reinforced by geosynthetic, Computer and Geotechnics, Vol. 36,
pp. 709-717.
Stransky, J. and Jirasek, M. (2012). Open Source FEM-DEM Coupling. 18th International
Conference on Engineering Mechanics, Svratka, Czech Republic.
Yang, Z.X., et al., (2010). Sand Grain Crushing and Interface shearing during Displacement
Pile Installation in Sand. Geotechnique, Vol. 60, pp. 469-482.

Zhou, J., et al., (2012). Coupled 3D discrete-continuum numerical modelling of pile penetration
in sand, Journal of Zhejiang University- Science A (Applied Physics and Engineering), Vol, 13,
pp. 44-55.