Multiscale modelling of hydro-mechanical processes in geomaterials with evolving weak/strong discontinuities

岩土材料支撑着土木/采矿工程和能源开采行业的关键基础设施的性能。因此，准确的建模和预测岩土材料的力学行为是至关重要的。岩土材料作为典型的颗粒材料，本质上是多尺度、多相的。它们的宏观反应由组成颗粒及其微观结构之间的潜在相互作用决定。同时，岩土材料的孔隙经常被水等流体完全或部分饱和。固体基质的变形和流体流动之间的耦合导致了许多复杂而有趣的现象，包括剪切带状和破裂。由于材料的非线性和耦合效应，以及缺乏稳健的数值工具来同时考虑多尺度和多相特征，准确地模拟和表征岩土材料仍然是一个具有挑战性的任务。

Geomaterials underpin the performance of key infrastructures in civil/mining engineering and energy extraction industries. Accurate modelling and predicting the mechanical behaviours of geomaterials are therefore vitally important. As typical granular materials, geomaterials are essentially multiscale and multiphase. Their macroscopic responses are decisively dictated by the underlying interactions among the constituent particles and their microstructures. Meanwhile, the pores of geomaterials are often fully or partially saturated with fluids like water. The coupling between the deformation of the solid matrix and the fluid flow leads to many complex yet intriguing phenomena including shear banding and fracturing. Due to the material nonlinearity and the coupling effects, as well as the lack of a robust numerical tool to account for both multiscale and multiphase characters, it remains a challenging task to accurately model and characterise geomaterials.