Monte Carlo simulations of deformation behaviour of unbound granular materials based on a real aggregate library.

The Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) has been developed to estimate the strength distributions of heterogeneous materials influenced by different factors. The method presents a statistical correlation between the macroscopic properties and the non-uniform characteristics at meso scale. This study proposes an extensive MCS to investigate the influence of the aggregate morphology on deformation behaviour of unbound granular materials (UGMs) based on a real aggregate library and the discrete element method. Two indexes, elongation index (EI) and flatness index (FI), were used to evaluate the morphological characteristics of 3D aggregates rebuilt by the X-ray CT technique. Furthermore, repeated load triaxial tests of UGMs were simulated by 50 MCS samples. The effects of shapes and sizes of aggregates on deformation behaviours were statistically analysed. The results show that the deformation behaviour is dependent on the size and the EI distribution, but insensitive to the loading frequencies and FI distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]