Evolution of Packing Structure in Cyclic Mobility and Post-liquefaction of Granular Soils

© Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2015 K.-T. Chau and J. Zhao (eds.), Bifurcation and Degradation of Geomaterials in the New Millennium, Springer Series in Geomechanics and Geoengineering, DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-13506-9_38 Abstract Micromechanical change in packing structures can provide significant insights to better understand the cyclic mobility and post-liquefaction behaviors of granular soils. In this study, Discrete Element Method (DEM) is used to investigate the evolution of the packing structure under undrained cyclic loading. The coordination number is used to indicate the formation and destruction of a loadcarrying structure in the post-liquefaction stage. A new index, termed as centroid distance, is proposed to quantify the effect of void and particle redistribution during cyclic loading. The new index is found to have a strong correlation with the mobilized maximum cyclic strain in post-liquefaction deformation.