Orateur
Description
Granular media support highly nonlinear wave propagation governed by contact interactions, evolving force chains, and compaction-dependent stiffness, making the construction of predictive continuum models particularly challenging. This work proposes a nonlinear continuum model for wave propagation in granular media, inspired by diffuse-interface formulations for hyperelastic solids and informed by Hertzian contact mechanics. The model adopts a hyperbolic framework that captures the dependence of wave speed on local compaction. By introducing an internal energy expressed in terms of deformation-tensor invariants, it additionally reproduces shear-induced dilation effects. Finite-volume simulations demonstrate the model’s ability to stabilize granular piles in the quasi-static regime and to recover realistic angles of repose. These results highlight the potential of the proposed approach as a continuum framework for large-scale simulation of granular assemblies.