Doctoral Dissertations

Orcid ID

0000-0002-8210-8191

Date of Award

8-2020

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Civil Engineering

Major Professor

Prof. Khalid Alshibli

Committee Members

Prof. Angelica Palomino, Prof. Timothy Truster, and Prof. Claudia Rawn

Abstract

The constitutive behavior of sand has been conventionally measured and modeled using global-scale measurements of stresses and strains at the boundaries of laboratory-sized specimens. However, acquiring global-scale measurements has originally been proposed for solid metals, while sand possesses a particulate nature with complex mechanics that we still know little about its behavior. This dissertation exploited recent advances in 3D x-ray experiments and 3D finite element (FE) computer simulations that would significantly enhance our understanding of sand constitutive behavior. Fundamental properties at different scale-levels ranging from crystal structure to laboratory-sized specimens were investigated using synchrotron micro-computed tomography (SMT), digital image processing, 3D x-ray diffraction (3DXRD), and 3D FE analysis.

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