Macro-micro investigation of granular materials in torsional shear test

A three-dimensional numerical torsion shear test is presented on hollow cylinder specimen which is performed on a spherical assemblage with fixed principal stress axes using the discrete element code PFC3D. Stack wall technique boundary conditions are employed and optimized to reasonably capture the microstructure evolution. Parametric studies are conducted in terms of the ratio kappa, normal and shear stiffness of particles, wall stiffness and friction coefficients. Afterwards, in comparison with physical test, numerical results for a fixed principal stress angle (alpha=45 degrees) are presented. The results show that the numerical test could capture the macro-micro mechanical behavior of the spherical particle assembly. The evolution of the coordination number demonstrates that particles in shear banding undergo remarkable decrease. The effects of localization on specimens illustrate that global stress and strain recorded from a hollow cylinder apparatus could not represent the localized response. The shearing band initiation and evolution from porosity and shear rate are visualized by contour lines in different shear strains.