The discrete material, which belongs to the category of soft materials, is one of the most prevalent forms of matter in nature and engineering fields. These materials often exhibit abundant and complex mechanical properties which are still far from being perfectly understood. From the view of multi-scale framework concentrated on the ＇bridge＇ role in the macro-micro relation, this review mainly introduces some theoretical investigations of mechanical behaviors in discrete materials, including the continuum constitutive model based on the macroscopic phenomenological approach and coupled micro-macro approach, the statistical analysis of some microscopic physical quantities involved contacted forces between particles and its transmission within the whole system, and the statistical analysis for some microscopic processes in aeolian landform systems involving the grain-bed impact, the transportation and sedimentation of wind-blown sand flux, et al. Finally, some further worthwhile challenges in these fields are suggested.
Xiaojing Zheng Dengming Wang (Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Western Disaster and Environment,the Ministry of Education of China,Lanzhou University,Lanzhou 730000,China)
Windblown sand flux and dune field evolving toward the oasis have been a common ecological and environmental threat confronted by many countries.Meanwhile,it is also a kind of complex dynamical process involving multiple temporal and spatial scales which is still out of accurate description through current field observations.Available models and reliable quantitative simulations are of significant value to predict the spreading rate of desertification and provide an optimal design for sand prevention.This paper presents a 'triple-jump' method to realize quantitative simulations to the formation and evolution of an aeolian dune field from an arbitrary initial configuration.Simulated results achieve a satisfactory agreement with observations qualitatively and quantitatively,which also reveal the characteristics and dynamical behaviors of dunes and dune field.Such a paradigm is of a good level of generality,which provides an exploratory probe into the subject of multi-scale physics.
Xiaojing Zheng a) Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Western Disaster & Environment,Ministry of Education,Lanzhou 730000,China
