.png){kind=icon}
.png){kind=icon}
Return
On the Yielding of Brittle Granular Materials at Elevated Temperatures
.png){kind=icon}
PRE
AI
Y
R
Y
DOI：10.1016/j.jmps.2026.106660.png)
.png){kind=icon}
Original request for help.png){kind=icon}
Share.png){kind=icon}
Save
Abstract
En 中文
Environmental conditions such as temperature and humidity majorly affect the mechanical properties of geomaterials such as stiffness, strength and time-dependent behavior (e.g., creep, relaxation, time-to-failure). Modeling the thermomechanical responses of geomaterials is becoming increasingly important, driven by the rising demand for environmentally-secure nuclear-waste repositories, efficient deep-geothermal energy extraction, and climate-resilient geostructures. In this study, we seek to mechanistically link temperature-dependent macroscopic yielding in brittle granular materials to the temperature dependence of the surface energy of their constituent solids. We begin by modeling the surface energy γ of minerals such as quartz by examining the intermolecular potential and its variability with respect to temperature. We then upscale this property to the continuum description of brittle granular assemblies through a novel surface-based breakage mechanics theory (SBM), in which the specific surface area As is the sole internal state variable tracking the degree of crushing in the granular matrix. An advantage of this choice is that As and γ naturally form a thermodynamically conjugated pair, allowing γ and its temperature dependency to explicitly appear in the yield function of the granular material. The surface-area growth law is obtained from a grain size distribution (GSD) with an evolving fractal dimension, supported by X-ray tomography data on crushable granular materials. The derived model successfully predicts the temperature-dependent yielding and stress-strain behavior of both consolidated and unconsolidated sands over temperatures from 20°C to 150°C, relying solely on the knowledge of surface energy variations at the mineral scale. These results support the hypothesis that, within the tested temperature range, thermal weakening is governed predominantly by reductions in solid surface energy, while changes in the elastic and hardening properties of the granular materials play at most a secondary role.
Keywords:
surface energy
granular materials
temperature dependence
yield function
breakage mechanics
Journal
IF:
6
Papers:
5.1K
Citations:
3.0W
Organization
Cited Papers