Relationship between contact stiffness ratio and structural stiffness coefficient of a rectangular granular sample: a numerical analysis

In this study, the relationship between contact stiffness ratio and stiffness coefficient of a rectangular sample of granular material is investigated using the granular element method (GEM). Randomly packed granular samples are studied with different contact force models and particle size distributions in numerical simulation using the GEM. Initial arrangements of particles in the granular samples are generated using different algorithms such as inwards packing method, iterative growth method and compression method. It is demonstrated that the relationship between the stiffness coefficient of the granular sample and the contact stiffness ratio is basically logarithmic (Eq. 6). For granular samples generated by inwards packing method, the deviation for logarithmic relationship is relatively small. For granular samples generated by iterative growth method and compressive method, the deviation for logarithmic relationship is relatively large.