Numerical simulation of one-dimensional behaviour of a kaolinite

The development of physically meaningful mathematical models for describing the geotechnical engineering behaviour of clays requires an understanding at the particle level. In a recent study, it was shown that a numerical simulation technique known as the discrete element method could be used for developing such an understanding for clays. Among the three most important interparticle forces, the mechanical force and the double-layer repulsive force were considered in that study. Owing to the absence of a rational procedure, the van der Waals attractive force was neglected. The attractive force is considered in the present paper. The assembly is assumed to be two-dimensional. With all three types of interparticle forces considered, the numerical behaviour is shown here to compare reasonably well with many aspects of the laboratory behaviour, supporting the validity of the numerical technique. Numerical results reveal certain other aspects of the behaviour of clays that it is difficult to observe by regular laboratory means (e.g. evolution of interparticle contacts, anisotropy and size of particle clusters), thus providing new information on the behaviour of clays.