Soils are composed of grains but they are generally treated as continua in the classical framework of geomechanics. Their macroscopic response under loading, such as their non-linearity, yielding and anisotropy, is controlled by their micro-structure, the characteristics of the grains and the disposition of contacts between them. There have been rapid advances in technology both to investigate the microscopic properties of soils, and to simulate their granular behaviour explicitly through Discrete Element Method (DEM). DEM was originally used to reproduce element tests, but it is now being advocated for boundary-value problems.

Geomechanics and Geotechnics: From Micro to Macro includes 174 peer-reviewed papers presented at the International Symposium on Geomechanics and Geotechnics: From Micro to Macro (IS-Shanghai 2010, Shanghai, China, 10-12 October 2010). The symposium provided an opportunity for the exchange of ideas and information on experiments, numerical models and engineering applications related to the discrete nature of geomaterials. The main goal was to explore further advances in the use of micro-geomechanical approaches, and by doing so to improve the understanding of macro-geomechanical phenomena by offering experiments, constitutive relations, numerical analyses and engineering applications associated with the discrete nature of geomaterials. Geomechanics and Geotechnics: From Micro to Macro will be of interest to academics and engineers involved in Soil Mechanics, Geomechanics, Geotechnical Engineering, Geoengineering and Civil Engineering.