Particle manifold method (PMM): A new continuum‐discontinuum numerical model for geomechanics

Particle manifold method (PMM) is a new extension of the numerical manifold method (NMM). PMM uses a mathematical cover system to describe the motion and deformation of a particle‐based physical domain. By introducing the concept of particle into NMM, PMM takes the advantages of easy topological and contact operations with particles. In this article, the methodology, formulations and implementation of the method are presented, together with modelling examples for validation. It is found that good solutions for both continuous and discontinuous problems are obtained by the new developed PMM. Due to the underlying coupled continuum‐discontinuum property of PMM, it has great potential for modelling of geomechanical problems. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

数值流形方法中覆盖函数选用的建议

在数值流形方法中,常用的覆盖函数基并非是最佳选择。循着刚度矩阵的形成过程,分析了选用常用覆盖函数时,在非对角元上出现绝对值很大的元素之成因,且发现这会增加刚度矩阵的条件数,尤其是在用刚性弹簧约束位移的情况下,而这在数值流形方法中普遍而基本。建议采用局部化较好的覆盖函数,取代常用的关联于全局坐标的覆盖函数,可显著消除这一情况。建议方式简单明了,程序改动极小,对改善刚度矩阵性态却有很大作用。算例验证了这一建议的合理性,通过比较局部化的覆盖函数及全局性的覆盖函数所形成的刚度矩阵,表明前者形成了较小条件数的刚度矩阵。     

一种模拟岩石蠕变的数值流形方法

为了保障岩土工程结构能长期正常使用,需要对其蠕变变形进行分析。“时步-初应变”法是一种常用的计算岩石蠕变的方法。数值流形方法是一种新兴的数值计算方法,常用于计算节理岩体的变形,但尚未被试用于计算蠕变变形。在原数值流形方法的程序中增加了基于“时步-初应变”法的计算模块,通过对广义开尔文模型进行的模拟,显示新程序可以正确反映岩石的黏弹性蠕变趋势,并能够计算包含节理的岩体的蠕变变形,改进后的数值流形方法不但能够模拟岩石的线弹性变形,而且可以模拟岩石的黏弹性蠕变,比原流形方法更能全面地模拟岩石的变形,扩展了数值流形方法在岩土工程中的使用范围。     

A coupled time integration algorithm for discontinuous deformation analysis using the numerical manifold method

To improve the computational efficiency of the numerical manifold method for discontinuous deformation simulations, a spatial-domain coupled explicit-implicit time integration algorithm is proposed. A subdomain partition algorithm based on a super manifold element is developed for the numerical manifold method to simulate dynamic motions of blocky rock mass. In different subdomains, explicit or implicit time integration method is employed respectively based on its contact and motion status. These subdomains interact through assembling the corresponding explicit or implicit time integration-based matrices of different rock blocks. The computational efficiency of the discontinuity system under dynamic loading is improved by partially diagonalizing the global matrices. Two verification examples of a sliding block along an inclined plane under a horizontal acceleration excitation and a multiblock system acted on by dynamic forces are studied to examine the accuracy of the proposed numerical method, respectively. A highly fractured rock mass situated on an inclined slope subjected to seismic excitations is then studied to show the computational efficiency of the developed algorithm. The simulated results are in good agreement with those from the versions using purely implicit or explicit time integration algorithm for the numerical manifold method. The computational efficiency is shown to be higher using the proposed algorithm, which demonstrates its potential for application in dynamic analysis of highly fractured rock masses.     

三维高阶数值流形方法研究

将三维流形单元的位移函数从一阶拓展为二阶,基于最小势能原理建立了有限单元覆盖的高阶流形方法分析格式,详细推导了三维流形单元的刚度矩阵、等效节点荷载列阵以及位移约束矩阵。计算结果表明,提高物理覆盖函数的阶次可有效提高流形方法的计算精度。     

A simple method to create complex particle shapes for DEM

In order to get quantitatively reliable results with the discrete element method, or DEM, it becomes more and more necessary to reproduce accurately the shape of irregular particles. A simple and fast original method to create complex shapes by assembling spheres together is proposed. This paper shows its ability to reproduce a shape, its degree of resolution and the number of spheres required.     

数值流形方法及其与耦合方法的比较

介绍了数值流形方法的基本原理,讨论了数学覆盖、物理覆盖、权函数和位移函数的概念,比较了该方法与DDA和FEM的耦合方法在对一维特性函数逼近的精确度,并用这两种方法模拟了地下放顶煤开挖的过程,最后的结果显示数值流形方法具有较好的相容性和精确度.     

岩体材料物理网格对流形元覆盖系统形成的影响

流形元的数学覆盖与物理网格相对独立,使流形元覆盖系统的形成比有限元单元网格的形成有更大的灵活性和方便性,但在形成流形元覆盖系统时对物理网格也有一定的依赖。笔者讨论了使用规则网格作为数学覆盖时,岩体材料普遍存在的裂隙和岩层界面这两种物理网格对流形元覆盖系统形成的影响,指出数学覆盖的构造要与岩体裂隙和岩层界面相适应,并提出了相应的流形元覆盖系统的形成方法,有利于流形元法应用于大型岩体工程问题。     

基于数值流形法的重力坝水力劈裂研究

运用数值流形法在非连续介质领域的独特优势,并结合断裂力学的基本原理,分析了重力坝的水力劈裂破坏问题,实现了重力坝起裂、扩展和渐进破坏的全过程。充分发挥应力强度因子判别法和带抗拉强度的摩尔-库仑破坏准则各自的优势,根据不同情况选取其中某种方法确定断裂和扩展方向,且不需要预制初始裂纹。选取一个算例两种工况分析了重力坝在不考虑裂纹面内水压力和考虑裂纹面内水压力的水力劈裂破坏情况。计算结果表明,在重力坝的水力劈裂中,当不考虑裂纹面内水压力时,坝踵处裂纹向下游和深部扩展,上游折坡点处裂纹属于压剪型破坏;当考虑裂纹面内水压力时,坝踵处裂纹偏向深度方向扩展,折坡点处的裂纹逐渐由压剪破坏变成了拉剪破坏,并且考虑裂纹面内水压力后坝体破坏所需要的时步减少,故而考虑裂纹面内水后降低了重力坝的安全系数。该方法加深了对重力坝水力劈裂破坏的认识,具有较大的实际应用价值。     

全长黏结锚杆的数值流形方法模型

基于流形方法的有限覆盖技术,确定流形元覆盖系统下锚杆的位移函数,由此建立全长粘结锚杆的数值流形方法模型,定义了锚杆流形单元,并推导了锚杆流形单元的数值计算格式。该模型符合全粘结的物理意义,是一种局部解析的锚杆数值方法,具有较高的精度。同时锚杆与数学覆盖相对独立,只要求锚杆完全处于数学网格的覆盖之中,对其相对位置没有要求,所以一般网格可以适应锚杆的复杂布置。该模型可以应用于岩土锚杆模拟及钢筋与混凝土共同作用分析等问题。     

三维数值流形法块体切割技术研究

运用布尔碎片运算实现了简单的三维块体切割功能,形成覆盖整个求解域的六面体网格,再将六面体单元拆分生成48个四面体单元,从而生成四面体数学覆盖。运用布尔交运算将四面体单元与求解域求交集得到流形块体,再根据三维拓扑有向性原理和三维单纯形积分理论,形成了有向边、有向环、有向面和有向壳4种有向几何数据结构,用来构造生成封闭的有向三维流形单元。定义了有向流形单元的连通内面对和连通的有向流形单元的概念,利用有向流形单元的连通内面对搜索生成物理覆盖体系。概括总结了基于修正对称和反对称分解的三维数值流形元法的求解计算要点,在不考虑三维接触、三维裂纹尖端奇异场和三维裂纹扩展的假设下,模拟了三维节理面的有限塑性变形张拉过程,得到了比较合理的数值模拟结果,验证了前处理和计算求解算法的正确性。     

Development of a discontinuous approach for modeling fluid flow in heterogeneous media using the numerical manifold method

In the numerical modeling of fluid flow in heterogeneous geological media, large material contrasts associated with complexly intersected material interfaces are challenging, not only related to mesh discretization but also for the accurate realization of the corresponding boundary constraints. To address these challenges, we developed a discontinuous approach for modeling fluid flow in heterogeneous media using the numerical manifold method (NMM) and the Lagrange multiplier method (LMM) for modeling boundary constraints. The advantages of NMM include meshing efficiency with fixed mathematical grids (covers), the convenience of increasing the approximation precision, and the high integration precision provided by simplex integration. In this discontinuous approach, the elements intersected by material interfaces are divided into different elements and linked together using the LMM. We derive and compare different forms of LMMs and arrive at a new LMM that is efficient in terms of not requiring additional Lagrange multiplier topology, yet stringently derived by physical principles, and accurate in numerical performance. To demonstrate the accuracy and efficiency of the NMM with the developed LMM for boundary constraints, we simulate a number of verification and demonstration examples, involving a Dirichlet boundary condition and dense and intersected material interfaces. Last, we applied the developed model for modeling fluid flow in heterogeneous media with several material zones containing a fault and an opening. We show that the developed discontinuous approach is very suitable for modeling fluid flow in strongly heterogeneous media with good accuracy for large material contrasts, complex Dirichlet boundary conditions, or complexly intersected material interfaces. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Application of the numerical manifold method for stress wave propagation across rock masses

In this paper, the numerical manifold method (NMM) is extended to study wave propagation across rock masses. First, improvements to the system equations, contact treatment, and boundary conditions of the NMM are performed, where new system equations are derived based on the Newmark assumption of the space–time relationship, the edge‐to‐edge contact treatment is further developed for the NMM to handle stress wave propagation across discontinuities, and the viscous non‐reflection boundary condition is derived based on the energy minimisation principle. After the modification, numerical comparisons between the original and improved NMM are presented. The results show that the original system equations result in artificial numerical damping, which can be overcome by the Newmark system equations. Meanwhile, the original contact scheme suffers some calculation problems when modelling stress wave propagation across a discontinuity, which can be solved by the proposed edge‐to‐edge contact scheme. Subsequently, the influence of the mesh size and time step on the improved NMM for stress wave propagation is studied. Finally, 2D wave propagation is modelled, and the model's results are in good agreement with the analytical solution. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Numerical manifold method for dynamic nonlinear analysis of saturated porous media

It is well known that the Babuska–Brezzi stability criterion or the Zienkiewicz–Taylor patch test precludes the use of the finite elements with the same low order of interpolation for displacement and pore pressure in the nearly incompressible and undrained cases, unless some stabilization techniques are introduced for dynamic analysis of saturated porous medium where coupling occurs between the displacement of solid skeleton and pore pressure. The numerical manifold method (NMM), where the interpolation of displacement and pressure can be determined independently in an element for the solution of u–p formulation, is derived based on triangular mesh for the requirement of high accurate calculations from practical applications in the dynamic analysis of saturated porous materials. The matrices of equilibrium equations for the second‐order displacement and the first‐order pressure manifold method are given in detail for program coding. By close comparison with widely used finite element method, the NMM presents good stability for the coupling problems, particularly in the nearly incompressible and undrained cases. Numerical examples are given to illustrate the validity and stability of the manifold element developed. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Spatial hashing based contact detection for numerical manifold method

A spatial hashing method was introduced to accelerate the contact detection process in the numerical manifold method. All objects (blocks) in the work space are hashed to a one dimensional hash table based on a spatial grid, then only blocks within the same place in the hash table need to do contact detection. The proposed method has a time complexity of O(n). Experiments show that the spatial hashing contact detection has a significant improvement in performance.     

六面体覆盖的高阶数值流形方法的探讨

采用高阶近似位移覆盖函数,基于六面体数学覆盖网格建立了三维数值流形方法分析格式,给出了相应的子矩阵。利用MATLAB编制了与之对应的计算程序,对简单的地下洞室模型进行了计算,并将计算结果与其他数值分析方法结果进行了比较,证明了分析格式及相应程序的正确性和有效性。结果表明, 当数值流形方法的覆盖函数推广到高阶情况时,其求解精度会有相应的提高。最后,对该方法在隧道及地下工程的应用前景作了展望。     

有自由面渗流分析的三维数值流形方法

提出了求解有自由面渗流问题的三维数值流形方法,通过构造任意形状流形单元的水头函数,推导了流形单元的渗透矩阵和无压渗流分析的总体控制方程,并给出了自由面的迭代求解策略和渗透体积力的计算方法。典型算例的数值分析表明,该方法采用数学网格覆盖整个材料区域,在自由面的迭代求解过程中数学网格保持不变,只考虑自由面以下渗流区的介质,只对自由面以下的流形单元形成总体渗透矩阵,具有精度高、收敛速度快、编程简单等优点,而且能够通过单纯形积分精确计算被自由面穿越单元的渗透作用力,因此,特别适用于有自由面渗流问题的模拟。     

Wilson非协调数值流形方法

三维数值流形方法中,当数学覆盖取六面体体单元时流形单元总体位移函数中所包含的多项式并不是完全的,非完全的高次项非但对改善精度不起作用,而且还可能起相反的作用。为此,基于Wilson非协调元理论,推导了附加非协调位移基本项的流形元通用公式,通过内参静力凝聚处理,导出了消除单元内参后的单元应变矩阵、单元刚度矩阵,建立了非协调数值流形方法。数值试验表明,在规则数学网格覆盖下它们能够保证收敛,有较高的精度,从而证明所建方法的可行性。     

Modeling progressive failures in rock slopes with non‐persistent joints using the numerical manifold method

Rock slope failure is a complex process that usually involves both opening/sliding along pre‐existing discontinuities as well as fracturing of intact rock bridges. Discontinuity persistence is an important factor governing rock slope instabilities. However, traditional slope failure analysis assumes persistent discontinuities, and rock slope fails along a predefined persistent continuous potential failure surface because of the limitations of the analysis tools. This paper proposes the numerical manifold method (NMM) incorporated with a Mohr–Coulomb criterion‐based fracturing algorithm to simulate the progressive failure of rock slopes with non‐persistent joints. Detailed fracturing algorithm is first presented. Then, the NMM enabling fracturing is calibrated through simulating an edge‐cracked plate and the Brazilian test. Lastly, the developed code is applied to investigate the failure process of rock slopes involving non‐persistent joints. Numerical results indicate that the proposed method can capture the opening/sliding along existing discontinuities, the fracturing in intact rock bridges and the final kinematic release. Progressive slope failure is well exhibited. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

数值流形法的T样条局部加密算法

在岩土工程分析中求解精度控制常常是必需的,在数值流形法中可以通过控制数学覆盖网格的稀疏和覆盖位移的阶数来达到精度的要求。提出了基于等几何分析的数值流形方法,定义了相应的数学覆盖的构造形式,推导了基于二次B样条的9节点数值流形方法分析格式;针对基于Lagrange插值函数的4节点数值流形方法提出了基于T样条思想的数学覆盖网格的局部加密方法。算例计算结果表明,相对于4节点的数值流形方法,基于非均匀有理B样条的9节点数值流形方法具有更高的精度;基于T样条思想的加密网格在保持计算精度的前提下降低了自由度的数量,表明T样条加密是一种自然的局部加密算法。