Numerical studies on patterning of shear zone in granular bodies

The paper deals with numerical investigations on the patterning of shear zones in granular bodies. The behaviour of dry sand during plane strain compression tests was numerically modelled with a finite element method using a hypoplastic constitutive relation within a polar (Cosserat) continuum. The constitutive relation was obtained through an extension of a non-polar one by polar quantities, viz. rotations, curvatures, couple stresses using the mean grain diameter as a characteristic length. This relation can reproduce the essential features of granular bodies during shear localisation. The material constants can be easily determined from element test results and can be estimated from granulometric properties. The attention is laid on the influence of boundary conditions and the distribution of imperfections in the granular specimen on the formation of patterns of shear zones.