Granular or particulate materials arise in almost every aspect of our lives, including many familiar materials such as tea, coffee, sugar, sand, cement and powders. At some stage almost every industrial process involves a particulate material, and it is usually the cause of the disruption to the smooth running of the process. In the natural environment, understanding the behaviour of particulate materials is vital in many geophysical processes such as earthquakes, landslides and avalanches. This book is a collection of current research from some of the major contributors in the topic of modelling the behaviour of granular materials. Papers from every area of current activity are included, such as theoretical, numerical, engineering and computational approaches. This book illustrates the numerous diverse approaches to one of the outstanding problems of modern continuum mechanics.

This monograph contains original results in the field of mathematical and numerical modeling of mechanical behavior of granular materials and materials with different strengths. It proposes new models helping to define zones of the strain localization. The book shows how to analyze processes of the propagation of elastic and elastic-plastic waves in loosened materials, and constructs models of mixed type, describing the flow of granular materials in the presence of quasi-static deformation zones. In a last part, the book studies a numerical realization of the models on multiprocessor computer systems. The book is intended for scientific researchers, lecturers of universities, post-graduates and senior students, who specialize in the field of the deformable materials mechanics, mathematical modeling and adjacent fields of applied and calculus mathematics.

Soils are complex materials: they have a particulate structure and fluids can seep through pores, mechanically interacting with the solid skeleton. Moreover, at a microscopic level, the behaviour of the solid skeleton is highly unstable. External loadings are in fact taken by grain chains which are continuously destroyed and rebuilt. Many issues of modeling, even of the physical details of the phenomena, remain open, even obscure; de Gennes listed them not long ago in a critical review. However, despite physical complexities, soil mechanics has developed on the assumption that a soil can be seen as a continuum, or better yet as a medium obtained by the superposition of two and sometimes three con and the other fluids, which occupy the same portion of tinua, one solid space. Furthermore, relatively simple and robust constitutive laws were adopted to describe the stress-strain behaviour and the interaction between the solid and the fluid continua. The contrast between the intrinsic nature of soil and the simplistic engi neering approach is self-evident. When trying to describe more and more sophisticated phenomena (static liquefaction, strain localisation, cyclic mo bility, effects of diagenesis and weathering, ..... ), the nalve description of soil must be abandoned or, at least, improved. Higher order continua, incrementally non-linear laws, micromechanical considerations must be taken into account. A new world was opened, where basic mathematical questions (such as the choice of the best tools to model phenomena and the proof of the well-posedness of the consequent problems) could be addressed.

This monograph covers phenomena of deformation and machining of granular media: macroscopic particles of different size, shape, and surface properties which typically exhibit behavior similar to fluids, as well as the behavior of solids under deformation. The book analyses the behavior of granular media in soils, rocks and stones, metals and various synthetic materials, presenting a theoretical description, applications and understanding of basic phenomena in granular matter.

This contributed volume provides an up-to-date overview of the mechanics of granular materials, ranging from sparse media to soils. With chapters exploring state-of-the-art theoretical, experimental, and applied trends in the study of granular matter in various states, readers will be motivated to learn about the current challenges and potential avenues of exploration in this active area of research. Including a variety of perspectives, this volume will be a valuable reference for audiences in a number of fields. Specific topics covered include: X-ray tomography techniques for analyzing sand Evaluation of effective stress in unsaturated soils Hyper-plasticity Wave propagation in granular systems Partly saturated porous media Multi-scale approaches to the dynamics of sparse media Views on Microstructures in Granular Materials is an ideal resource for PhD students and researchers in applied mathematics, solid-state physics, civil engineering, and mechanical engineering.

Granular matter displays a variety of peculiarities that distinguish it from other appearances studied in condensed matter physics and renders its overall mathematical modelling somewhat arduous. Prominent directions in the modelling granular flows are analyzed from various points of view. Foundational issues, numerical schemes and experimental results are discussed. The volume furnishes a rather complete overview of the current research trends in the mechanics of granular matter. Various chapters introduce the reader to different points of view and related techniques. New models describing granular bodies as complex bodies are presented. Results on the analysis of the inelastic Boltzmann equations are collected in different chapters. Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry is also discussed.

2007 account of developments in granular physics for researchers in statistical and mathematical physics.