Stochastic FE-analysis of shear localization in 2D granular material within a micro-polar hypoplasticity

The paper deals with investigations of the effect of the stochastic distribution of the initial void ratio in granular bodies on shear localization during shearing of an infinite granular layer 500 mm high with free dilatancy under plane strain conditions. The initial void ratio was assumed to be stochastic with a correlated random field generated by a conditional rejection method by Walukiewicz et al (1997). To simulate mechanical behaviour of a cohesionless granular material during a monotonous deformation path, a micro-polar hypoplastic constitutive law was used, which takes into account particle rotations, curvatures, non-symmetric stresses, couple stresses and the mean grain diameter as a characteristic length. The proposed model captures the salient mechanical features of granular bodies in a wide range of densities and pressures with a single set of constants. In addition, the comparative FE-analyses were carried out with a uniform and spatially non-correlated random fields of the initial void ratio.