Numerical investigation of diffuse instability in sandy soil using discrete element method under proportional strain path loading

Abstract The Loose sandy soil can manifest static liquefaction phenomenon under undrained condition, in which the onset of instability is within the failure line, and there is no obvious shear band. This type of failure mode, very different from localized instability that occurs in dense sand, is called the diffuse instability. In this paper, a series of proportional strain tests and fully drained tests under different initial void ratio were simulated using the discrete element method. The influence of strain increment ratio and the initial void ratio affecting the instability of sandy soil w...