State-of-the-Art Review on the Progressive Failure Characteristics of Geomaterials in Peridynamic Theory

Peridynamic (PD) theory is an integral-type nonlocal continuum mechanics theory that reformulates the equation of motion in local continuum mechanics as an integrodifferential equation. PD theory has been used to simulate mechanical responses of various materials with discontinuous structures. During the past two decades, PD theory has been developed to simulate different discontinuous problems and to illustrate various discontinuous phenomena in the diverse fields of engineering and sciences. In this paper, a state-of-the-art review on the investigation of failure processes of geomaterials in a PD framework is performed to illustrate the successful results and potential capability of PD theory in future geotechnical engineering. This review starts with a brief theoretical description of a bond-based peridynamic (BB-PD) model, a state-based peridynamic (SB-PD) model, a hybrid PD-classical continuum mechanics model, and an analytical PD model. Then surveys of PD applications to coupled multiphysical failure problems of geomaterials are conducted, which aim at revealing the associated failure mechanism. The applications of PD theory to simulate real geotechnical engineering are subsequently reported. Finally, some future-oriented research perspectives of PD applications in geotechnical engineering and a brief summary are presented.