On the modeling of confined buckling of force chains

Buckling of force chains, laterally confined by weak network particles, has long been held as the underpinning mechanism for key instabilities arising in dense, cohesionless granular assemblies, e.g. shear banding and slip-stick phenomena. Despite the demonstrated significance of this mechanism from numerous experimental and discrete element studies, there is as yet no model for the confined buckling of force chains. We present herein the first structural mechanical model of this mechanism. Good agreement is found between model predictions and confined force chain buckling events in discrete element simulations. A complete parametric analysis is undertaken to determine the effect of various particle-scale properties on the stability and failure of force chains. Transparency across scales is achieved, as the mechanisms on the microscopic and mesoscopic domains, which drive well-known macroscopic trends in biaxial compression tests, are elucidated. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.