ABSTRACT
The evolution of internal structure or fabric has a key role in shaping the macroscopic response of granular materials, including soils, to applied loads. If a fabric tensor, describing the contact orientations is known, the overall ensemble properties can be deduced. For example, Thornton (1993) gives a fundamental analytical expression for the overall stiffness of a material that considers the contact stiffnesses and orientations (i.e. fabric). Kumar et al. (2013) demonstrate a constitutive model, whose development was informed by DEM simulations, in addition, the model proposed by Gao et al. (2014) also includes a fabric term. While the veracity of the fabric evolutions predicted or assumed in these models can be tested using DEM, DEM models are limited due to their ideal nature, and so there is a clear need for fabric data to confirm their applicability to real sands.
