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UEC Int’l Mini-Conference No.53 39

Micromechanical Simulation Using Discrete and Finite Elements

Applied to Soil Liquefaction

Gamaliel Jeevan DEWANTO , Kanata YAMASHITA, Hans-Georg MATUTTIS
∗
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems
The University of Electro-Communications
Tokyo, Japan

Keywords: Granular mechanics, Discrete element method (DEM), Finite element method (FEM),
Micromechanic simulation, Soil liquefaction.

Abstract
Liquefaction of soil is very often discussed in a very hand waving manner: the movement of fluid
relative to particles is graphically visualized, but the motion is not based on any computation via
actual equations of motion. In this research we present two-dimensional micromechanical compu-
tations of vibrated grain matrices in fluid where the granular particles are modeled with a discrete
element method for elastic polygons and the fluid is incorporated around the particles via a finite el-
ement method for incompressible fluids. Under external vibration, we show how the granular matrix
is liquefied and can escape through gaps on the surface of the system, as is the case in many lique-
faction events during earthquakes. The evolution of the force network within the granular matrix is
analyzed to provide deeper insights into the liquefaction process.

The author is supported by (AiQuSci) MEXT Schol-
*
arship.