Determination of macro-scale soil properties from pore-scale structures: model derivation

Area of Science:

• Geotechnical Engineering
• Continuum Mechanics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Poro-elasticity describes the mechanical behavior of fluid-saturated porous materials.
• Understanding soil behavior under large deformation is crucial for geotechnical applications.
• Existing models may not fully capture the complex interactions within soils composed of multiple phases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To derive macro-scale poro-elastic equations for soils using homogenization.
• To investigate the influence of large deformation on poro-elastic behavior.
• To establish a method for parametrizing macro-scale equations from micro-scale properties.

Main Methods:

• Homogenization technique applied to soils with rigid particles, air-filled pores, and a mixed phase.
• Analysis conducted in the limit of large deformation.
• Representative micro-scale problems solved to parametrize macro-scale equations.
• Validation through comparison with full equations for various geometries and material properties.

Main Results:

• A set of macro-scale poro-elastic equations was successfully derived.
• The homogenized equations showed excellent agreement with the full equations, with a difference of [Formula: see text].
• The method effectively links micro-scale structure to macro-scale poro-elastic properties.

Conclusions:

• The homogenization scheme provides a robust method for determining macro-scale soil properties.
• This approach is valuable for both the characterization and optimization of soils.
• The derived equations offer a computationally efficient alternative for simulating soil behavior.