Effect of interparticle friction on the one-dimensional compression behaviour of clay
File(s)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Nakamichi, Yohei
O'Sullivan, Catherine
Tangney, Paul
Angioletti-Uberti, Stefano
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
This paper considers the effects of interparticle friction on the one-dimensional compression behavior of clay via coarse-grained molecular dynamics (CGMD) simulations. In the CGMD simulations, individual clay particles are modeled as flat ellipsoids, and particle interactions are described by the potential energy of interaction between a pair of particles as a function of their separation distance and relative orientation. Most potential functions do not explicitly describe interparticle friction, and so this study implemented a novel CGMD framework to simulate interparticle friction. The data generated confirmed the need to describe interparticle friction to reproduce physically realistic values for the coefficient of lateral earth pressure (K0). Interparticle friction was also shown to determine hysteresis in load–unload cycles. Despite the challenges associated with measuring interparticle friction for clay, it is clear that this parameter is important, that it should be included in particle-scale simulations of clay, and that future research efforts should address uncertainty about how best to analytically/numerically describe friction and which friction model should be adopted.
Date Issued
2026-08-01
Date Acceptance
2025-12-22
Citation
International Journal of Geomechanics, 2026, 26 (8)
ISSN
1532-3641
Publisher
American Society of Civil Engineers
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume
26
Issue
8
Copyright Statement
© 2026 American Society of Civil Engineers. This is the author’s accepted manuscript made available under a CC-BY licence in accordance with Imperial’s Research Publications Open Access policy (www.imperial.ac.uk/oa-policy)
License URL
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2026-06-09