Gravel formation involves the mixture of hard gravel and a soil matrix. Knowing the integrated mechanical characteristics of gravel formation is beneficial for engineering constructions and disaster prevention.this study adopts the software PFC2D, which is based on the discrete element method, to investigate the mechanical behavior of gravel formations. First, simulation is carried out through a biaxial test to adjust the micro parameters in PFC2D, and then multiple regression analysis is performed to establish the relationship between macro and micro parameters.
Furthermore, with the reasonable micro parameters obtained, the particle size and content of gravel can changed to investigate how they influence mechanical behavior. The results show that the bigger particle size and the greater the content of gravel, the higher the values of shear strength, elastic modulus, Poisson’s ratio and friction angle,but the lower the value of cohesion. In other words, this kind of material has higher shear strength and stronger
deformation resistance. These findings correspond with previous research results.
Key Words : Gravel formation, PFC, mechanical behavior, micro parameters.