Investigating Peak Strength of Gap-Graded Soils Through Discrete Element Method: Mechanisms and Prediction

Investigating Peak Strength of Gap-Graded Soils Through Discrete Element Method: Mechanisms and Prediction | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Investigating Peak Strength of Gap-Graded Soils Through Discrete Element Method: Mechanisms and Prediction Shanlin Xu, Lingkai Hu, Honglei Sun, Bo Wang, Feng Gao, Mingyuan Wang This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-5281098/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Granular Matter → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Gap-graded soils, commonly used in geotechnical and hydraulic engineering applications, exhibit diverse strength characteristics influenced by particle size distribution. To understand the mechanisms governing the strength of gap-graded soils and to develop a predictive formula for strength, this study utilizes the discrete element method to investigate the peak strength of gap-graded soil samples with a wide range of fine particle contents (FC) and particle size ratios (SR). The results reveal a complex and coupled effect of FC and SR on peak strength, with distinct trends in different FC ranges. At the particle scale, the arrangement of particles in initially isotropic gap-graded soils changes under external loading, leading to an increase in branch anisotropy value. The magnitude of this increase is influenced by both the particle size distribution and fine content. A lower value of peak branch anisotropy indicates a more uniform normal force distribution among contact types (coarse-coarse, fine-fine, and fine-coarse force type), resulting in a higher peak strength of the soil. Microscopic analysis confirms a negative correlation between strength and both branch anisotropy and standard deviation of normal contact force proportions at peak state. Furthermore, a peak strength prediction formula incorporating SR and FC is proposed, offering practical guidelines for engineering design involving gap-graded soils. Discrete Element Method Gap-graded Soils Particle Size Distribution Peak Strength Anisotropy Predictive Formula Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Mar, 2025 Read the published version in Granular Matter → Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-5281098","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":369579700,"identity":"50dcaaac-0ad9-4cf4-8ec2-550a9202f81e","order_by":0,"name":"Shanlin Xu","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Shanlin","middleName":"","lastName":"Xu","suffix":""},{"id":369579701,"identity":"01563bf5-1ee2-4018-88df-4ad013f3246e","order_by":1,"name":"Lingkai Hu","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Lingkai","middleName":"","lastName":"Hu","suffix":""},{"id":369579702,"identity":"bdb2c195-a314-4231-8d71-83888c0a3935","order_by":2,"name":"Honglei Sun","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Honglei","middleName":"","lastName":"Sun","suffix":""},{"id":369579703,"identity":"4d761c02-0f6e-4d6b-a348-326f991dec5d","order_by":3,"name":"Bo Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Zhejiang University of Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Bo","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""},{"id":369579704,"identity":"7778f91d-8c9c-4e92-9def-c1e334a36b63","order_by":4,"name":"Feng Gao","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Changsha University of Science and Technology","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Feng","middleName":"","lastName":"Gao","suffix":""},{"id":369579705,"identity":"0d4cf1da-b912-4b31-9289-348a3d3666a7","order_by":5,"name":"Mingyuan Wang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Power China Huadong Engineering Corporation","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mingyuan","middleName":"","lastName":"Wang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-10-17 08:38:23","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5281098/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5281098/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-025-01511-0","type":"published","date":"2025-03-11T15:58:41+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":78689092,"identity":"30224acc-19c2-4360-a74e-fe3e2f9f982f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-03-17 16:11:12","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":880599,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"GM.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-5281098/v1_covered_f8cf1fd5-75b6-4eb9-a65a-16d2d5dd56a2.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Investigating Peak Strength of Gap-Graded Soils Through Discrete Element Method: Mechanisms and Prediction","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Discrete Element Method, Gap-graded Soils, Particle Size Distribution, Peak Strength, Anisotropy, Predictive Formula","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5281098/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5281098/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eGap-graded soils, commonly used in geotechnical and hydraulic engineering applications, exhibit diverse strength characteristics influenced by particle size distribution. To understand the mechanisms governing the strength of gap-graded soils and to develop a predictive formula for strength, this study utilizes the discrete element method to investigate the peak strength of gap-graded soil samples with a wide range of fine particle contents (FC) and particle size ratios (SR). The results reveal a complex and coupled effect of FC and SR on peak strength, with distinct trends in different FC ranges. At the particle scale, the arrangement of particles in initially isotropic gap-graded soils changes under external loading, leading to an increase in branch anisotropy value. The magnitude of this increase is influenced by both the particle size distribution and fine content. A lower value of peak branch anisotropy indicates a more uniform normal force distribution among contact types (coarse-coarse, fine-fine, and fine-coarse force type), resulting in a higher peak strength of the soil. Microscopic analysis confirms a negative correlation between strength and both branch anisotropy and standard deviation of normal contact force proportions at peak state. Furthermore, a peak strength prediction formula incorporating SR and FC is proposed, offering practical guidelines for engineering design involving gap-graded soils.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Investigating Peak Strength of Gap-Graded Soils Through Discrete Element Method: Mechanisms and Prediction","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-10-31 18:06:30","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-5281098/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1354478e-6de4-48c5-8f31-5daf60f33cda","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 31st, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-03-17T16:05:42+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-5281098","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-025-01511-0","journal":{"identity":"granular-matter","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Granular Matter"},"publishedOn":"2025-03-11 15:58:41","publishedOnDateReadable":"March 11th, 2025"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-10-31 18:06:30","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10035-025-01511-0","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-025-01511-0","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-5281098","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-5281098","identity":"rs-5281098","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}