Micromechanical considerations of unsaturated pyramidal packing

Abstract

To develop an interaction model of moisture suction, saturation and intergranular stress for granular materials, the properties of unsaturated regular packing of isodiametrical rough spheres are investigated theoretically. These micromechanical considerations demonstrate the existence of the effective pore suction tensor, which depends on the saturation, the liquid–solid contact angle, the surface roughness, the grain size, and the fabric tensor of the granular skeleton. This tensor is shown to involve a deviatoric part.