ESR3: Grenoble Institute of Technology (INPG), France

Micro-macro relations for unsaturated materials and their integration in boundary value problems

Supervisor: Prof. Felix Darve

Objective: Establish micro-macro relationships for unsaturated soils and debris materials

Methodology: The apparent macro-behaviour of soils and debris materials is mainly dictated by interactions occuring at the grains scale between particles and between particles and intersticial fluids. This task will be based on micromechanical studies of three-phase materials through DEM simulations (yade-dem.org). It aims at establishing micro-macro relationships to support  the calibration and implementation of macroscale constitutive laws. Such relationships also help to better understand some intricate phenomena in granular materials. The results will be compared with predictions in Tasks 1.1 and 1.2.

Deliverable: Establishment of micro-macro relations for unsaturated soils and debris materials

Secondments: BOKU: 2 p-ms (macro model interaction), UNOTT: 2 p-ms (macro model interaction), ETHZ: 2 p-ms (DEM crosslink)