In this paper, the deformation and failure of granular media is studied using lattice based techniques. In a two-dimensional simulation of the lattice type model, nodes are introduced at particle contacts and are linked by bars to form a lattice which is then anayzed as a truss. The areas of bars of the lattice within a particle are obtained by equating the net displacements produced by the bars at the nodes of the lattice to the displacements of the contacts of the particle (idealized as an elastic disk). The model includes bonding, debonding, sliding and rotation of particles. Numerical test is conducted on a two dimensional assembly of 104 particles, arranged as a dense packing and representing quartz grains. The packing is subjected to a vertical load followed by simple shear deformations. The deformation and failure of the material are explained using plots of contact forces. KEYWORDS: granular, materials, lattice model, simple shear, deformation, failure, numerical model.