TRIAXIAL COMPRESSION AND DIRECT SHEAR TESTS IN THE PARAMETRIZATION OF SOIL MODELED VIA THE DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD

Triaxial compression tests as well as direct shear tests are established standardized tests in soil mechanics to characterize and classify different kinds of soil and particularly assess their shear strength in terms of cohesion and angle of internal friction. We make use of the measured strain-stress charcteristic observed in a triaxial compression test in order to parametrize our soil model that relies on the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The capability of triaxial compression tests for parametrizing a DEM model has already been shown. Due to its comparably high cost and complexity of execution, we herein evaluate direct shear tests regarding accuracy, practicability and robustness as proper complement or alternative. Within this contribution, we simulate the triaxial compression test and the direct shear test for two different kinds of cohesionless soil, compare the simulation results with experimental data and discuss the suitability of direct shear tests for the parametrization procedure.