S U M M A R Y The forces that cause deformation of western North America have been debated for decades. Recent studies, primarily based on analysis of crustal stresses in the western United States, have suggested that the deformation of the region ismainly controlled by gravitational potential energy (GPE) variations and boundary loads, with basal tractions due to mantle flow playing a relative...

Although rocks, at least some of them, are nearly as old as the Earth itself, their behavior continues to play an important role in a variety of applications and phenomena of societal interest. These include natural disasters, such as landslides, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. Rocks are widely used for building materials, foundations, tunnels and underground facilities. Most of the world’s...

The challenge of dealing with cohesive powders during storage, handling and transport are widely known in the process and pharmaceutical industries. Simulations with the discrete element method (DEM) provide further insight into the local microstructure of bulk materials. In this work, the DEM approach is presented to investigate the flow behavior of granular systems subjected to different mode...

Residual elastic strain in naturally deformed, quartz-containing rocks can be measured quantitatively in a petrographic thin section with high spatial resolution using Laue microdiffraction with white synchrotron X-rays. The measurements with a resolution of 1 μm allow the quantitative determination of the deviatoric strain tensor as a function of position within the crystal investigated. The o...

this paper presents a model for prediction of the mechanical behavior of sand-gravel mixtures using generalized plasticity and critical state concepts. proposed model is based on the difference between critical state lines of sand and sand-gravel mixture in e-lnp' plane. a generalized plasticity model is considered as the base model for sandy soil. its state parameter, dilation rate and ha...

NASA/TM—2013-217850 1 ∆t∗ nondimensional time step, ∆t/(L/V0) kinetic energy dissipation rate 1 kinetic energy dissipation rate computed from deviatoric strain rate 3 kinetic energy dissipation rate computed from pressure dilatation κ angular wave number μ kinematic viscosity ν spectroscopic wave number ωi vorticity vector Ω volume ρ density σ filter damping coefficient τij stress tensor ζ enst...