ABSTRACT:

Granular materials, including sands, clays, and mineral rocks, are ubiquitous in nature and critical to research in geotechnical engineering, granular physics, mining, and mechanical engineering. These materials exhibit diverse states: solid (embankments), liquid (landslides), and gas-like (dust storms) state. In civil engineering, the focus often lies on their behavior in the solid state. The particle morphology, such as shape and grain size distribution, plays a critical role in influencing both micro- and macro-scale behavior. Various shape descriptors, such as sphericity, roundness, and aspect ratio, have been proposed to correlate shape parameters with mechanical properties. This study investigates the influence of particle shape on the mechanical behavior of granular soils using discrete element method (DEM) simulations. By employing superellipsoids in DEM, we systematically assess superellipsoids’ capability to control particle shape parameters and examine the resulting effects on microstructural responses and macroscopic mechanical properties during shearing.

BIO:

Dr. Yuxuan Wen is a postdoctoral scholar from the department of civil and construction engineering in OSU under the guidance of Prof. T. Matthew Evans. His research focuses on the mechanics and physics of granular materials, soil dynamics, and computational geomechanics. Yuxuan earned his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, a master's degree in highway and rail engineering from Zhejiang University, and a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. He has worked as a staff geotechnical engineer at Corsair Consulting LLC in Texas and later joined Oregon State University after passing the P.E. geotechnical exam. Starting 2025, he will begin his role as an assistant professor at East China Jiaotong University in Nanchang, China. He has authored five journal papers and led an industrial project analyzing the dynamic properties of foundations. He has delivered multiple presentations at the ASCE Engineering Mechanics Institute Annual Conference and serves as a reviewer for leading journals, including J. Geotech. & Geoenviron. Engng, Acta Geotechnica, Soils and Foundations, etc. He is also actively seeking collaborators to drive innovative advancements in the field of granular materials