# Heterogeneity and patterning in the quasi-static behavior of granular materials

## TL;DR

This paper investigates the heterogeneity and spatial patterning in the quasi-static behavior of granular materials through numerical simulations, revealing how various heterogeneity types evolve during loading.

## Contribution

It introduces a detailed classification of heterogeneity in granular materials and analyzes their evolution using DEM simulations during biaxial compression.

## Key findings

- Topology and geometric fabric become more variable during loading
- Inter-particle movement fluctuations increase with loading and extend over multiple particle diameters
- Deformation and rotation heterogeneity exhibit significant spatial patterning

## Abstract

Heterogeneity is classified in five categories---topologic, geometric, kinematic, static, and constitutive---and the first four categories are investigated in a numerical DEM simulation of biaxial compression. The simulation experiments show that the topology and geometric fabric become more variable during loading. The measured fluctuations in inter-particle movements are large, they increase with loading, and they extend to distances of at least eight particle diameters. Deformation and rotation heterogeneity are large and are expressed in spatial patterning. Stress heterogeneity is moderate throughout loading.