Prediction on dispersion in elastoplastic unsaturated granular media

ABSTRACT This study focuses on the propagation of the plane wave in the elastoplastic unsaturated granular media, and the wave equations and dispersion equations are derived for the media under the framework of Cosserat theory. Due to symmetry, five different wave modes are considered and predicted for the elastoplastic unsaturated granular media based on the Cosserat theory, including two longitudinal waves, one rotational longitudinal wave and two coupled transverse–rotational transverse waves. The correspondence is discussed between these Cosserat wave modes and the classical wave modes. Based on the dispersion equations, the dispersion behaviors are obtained for the five Cosserat wave modes. The results indicated that the different stress-strain stages, including the elastic, hardening and softening stages, have obvious effect on the dispersion behaviors of the Cosserat wave modes.