ABSTRACT
In the early nineties, numerical simulations using the Discrete Element methods were suggested as a convenient tool to investigate the incremental behaviour of granular materials (Bardet & Proubet 1989; Bardet 1993, 1994; Calvetti & di Prisco 1993). The numerical “experiments” were conducted on idealized materials, i.e. random assemblies of 2D particles (typically, disks). The incremental behaviour of these assemblies was obtained upon application of a series of small stress (or strain) increments that initiate from a common material state, have an identical amplitude, and point in various directions. Although different as for the numerical method employed and the testing program, these studies came all to the common conclusion that (non-associated) elastoplasticity with a single mechanism conveniently describes the observed incremental behaviour.
