A saturated discrete particle model and characteristic-based SPH method in granular materials

Based on the discrete particle model for solid-phase deformation of granular materials consisting of dry particulate assemblages, a discrete particle–continuum model for modelling the coupled hydro-mechanical behaviour in saturated granular materials is developed. The motion of the interstitial fluid is described by two parallel continuum schemes governed by the averaged incompressible N–S equations and Darcy's law, respectively, where the latter one can be regarded as a degraded case of the former. Owing to the merits in both Lagrangian and mesh-free characters, the characteristic-based smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is proposed in this paper for modelling pore fluid flows relative to the deformed solid phase that is modelled as packed assemblages of interacting discrete particles. It is assumed that the formulation is Lagrangian with the co-ordinate system transferring with the movement of the solid particles. The assumed continuous fluid field is discretized into a finite set of Lagrangian (material) points with their number equal to that of solid particles situated in the computational domain. An explicit meshless scheme for granular materials with interstitial water is formulated. Numerical results illustrate the capability and performance of the present model in modelling the fluid–solid interaction and deformation in granular materials saturated with water. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.