Investigation into the isotropic compression of wet granular soils using discrete element method

In this paper, the authors aim to present a 3D model using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to study the quasistatic response of very loose assemblies of frictional spherical grains to an isotropic compression in the presence of a small amount of an interstitial liquid, which gives rise to capillary menisci and attractive forces. A reduced pressure P* is defined, comparing the confining pressure to the tensile strength of contacts. The effects of initial assembling process and various micromechanical parameters on the plastic compression curves are first studied. The influences of rolling resistance at contacts and the size polydispersity along those compression curves are also mentioned.