DEM NUMERICAL ANALYSIS OF LOAD TRANSFERS IN GRANULAR SOIL LAYER

Load transfers and other arching effects are mechanisms frequently met in civil engineer- ing, especially in areas subject to karstic subsidence or in geotechnical earth structures such as piled embankments. The study proposed focuses on the numerical discrete analysis of granular material re- sponse submitted to specific boundary conditions leading to load transfer (embankment built over a trench or over a network of piles). The influence of several parameters has been studied: granular layer thickness, friction behaviour and particle shapes. Various load transfer mechanisms are ob- served, depending on the boundaries and also on the granular layer properties. The comparison be- tween three-dimensional Discrete Element Modelling and analytical calculation methods leads to a various agreement, depending on the case treated.