US-France Planning Visit: Study of Granular Material Crushing through Imaging and Discrete Element Modeling Simulation

Rowan University, Glassboro NJ

Investigators

Abstract

In this planning visit supported by the Europe and Eurasia Program of the Office of International Science and Engineering, Profs. Beena Sukumaran and Shreekanth Mandayam together with a graduate student will visit Prof. Ali Daouadji in the Civil Engineering Department at Université Paul Verlaine in Metz, France, to a joint experimental, numerical and theoretical study of the crushing of granular geologic materials. The proposed research will involve a combination of x-ray computed tomography imaging, discrete element modeling, and a theoretical model that can reproduce the stress-strain behavior of granular materials. This planned multidisciplinary investigation would involve US and French investigators with complementary expertise. The technical impact of this investigation is likely to benefit geotechnical engineering research as well as other fields that depend on an understanding of granular mechanics. The research effort would also enhance scientific collaboration between French and U.S. scientists and provide students with an international research experience in an important activity. Rowan University is a primarily undergraduate institution with considerable success in training women and underrepresented minorities in STEM fields.