The incremental stiffness of an assembly of particles

Summary The problem of fairly densily packed particles with rate independent though otherwise arbitrary interaction is investigated in two dimensions. It is shown that slow changes in a statistically uniform medium in the pre-failure deformation state can be described by a stiffness tensor. An approximate expression for this tensor is obtained from first principles. The connection with the perfectly random heterogeneous medium is established. A simple example for round rough particles in an isotropic packing of four contacts is given.With 8 Figure