On the linear elastic responses of the 2D bonded discrete element model

The bonded discrete element model (DEM) is a numerical tool that is becoming widely used when studying fracturing, fragmentation, and failure of solids in various disciplines. However, its abilities to solve elastic problems are usually overlooked. In this work, the main features of the 2D bonded DEM which influence Poisson's ratio and Young's modulus, and accuracy when solving elastic boundary value problems, are investigated. Outputs of numerical simulations using the 2D bonded DEM, the finite element method, a hyper elasticity analysis, and the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) are compared in the investigation. It is shown that a shear interaction (local) factor and a geometric (global) factor are two essential elements for the 2D bonded DEM to reproduce a full range of Poisson's ratios. It is also found that the 2D bonded DEM might be unable to reproduce the correct displacements for elastic boundary value problems when the represented Poisson's ratio is close to 0.5 or the long-range interaction is considered. In addition, an analytical relationship between the shear stiffness ratio and the Poisson's ratio, derived from a hyper elasticity analysis and applicable to discontinuum-based models, provides good agreement with outputs from the 2D bonded DEM and DLSM. Finally, it is shown that the selection of elastic parameters used the 2D bonded DEM has a significant effect on fracturing and fragment patterns of solids.     

Implementation of a coupled plastic damage distinct lattice spring model for dynamic crack propagation in geomaterials

This paper studies dynamic crack propagation by employing the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) and 3‐dimensional (3D) printing technique. A damage‐plasticity model was developed and implemented in a 2D DLSM. Applicability of the damage‐plasticity DLSM was verified against analytical elastic solutions and experimental results for crack propagation. As a physical analogy, dynamic fracturing tests were conducted on 3D printed specimens using the split Hopkinson pressure bar. The dynamic stress intensity factors were recorded, and crack paths were captured by a high‐speed camera. A parametric study was conducted to find the influences of the parameters on cracking behaviors, including initial and peak fracture toughness, crack speed, and crack patterns. Finally, selection of parameters for the damage‐plasticity model was determined through the comparison of numerical predictions and the experimentally observed cracking features.     

Development of the distinct lattice spring model for large deformation analyses

This study develops the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) for geometrically nonlinear large deformation problems. The formulation of a spring bond deformation under a large deformation is derived under the Lagrange framework using polar decomposition. The results reveal that the DLSM's stiffness matrix under small deformations is the tangent stiffness matrix of the DLSM under large deformations. The formulation of the spring bond internal force under a given configuration is also presented and can be used to calculate the unbalanced force. Using these formulations, three nonlinear solving methods (the Euler method, modified Euler method, and Newton method) are developed for the DLSM with which to tackle large deformation problems. To investigate the performance of the developed model, three numerical examples involving large deformations are presented, the results of which are also in good agreement with the analytical and finite element method solutions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Validation study of the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) on P-wave propagation across multiple parallel joints

A validation study of the distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) for wave propagation problems is performed. DLSM is a microstructure-based numerical model, which is meshless and has advantages in modelling dynamic problems where stress wave propagation is important. To verify the applicability of DLSM to modelling wave propagation through a discontinuous medium, the virtual wave source (VWS) method is used to obtain analytical solutions for wave propagation across a jointed rock mass. Numerical modelling results of the commercial code UDEC are selected as the reference. The effects of particle size and lattice rotation angle on wave propagation are first studied. Then, the results of wave transmission across a single joint with a different joint stiffness and across multiple parallel joints with different joint spacings are derived with DLSM, UDEC and VWS. These results are in good agreement with each other. Therefore, the capability of DLSM to model P-wave propagation across jointed rock mass is verified, which provides confidence for the further application of DLSM to modelling more complex problems.     

Parallelization of the distinct lattice spring model

The distinct lattice spring model (DLSM) is a newly developed numerical tool for modeling rock dynamics problems, i.e. dynamic failure and wave propagation. In this paper, parallelization of DLSM is presented. With the development of parallel computing technologies in both hardware and software, parallelization of a code is becoming easier than before. There are many available choices now. In this paper, Open Multi‐Processing (OpenMP) with multicore personal computer (PC) and message passing interface (MPI) with cluster are selected as the environments to parallelize DLSM. Performances of these parallel DLSM codes are tested on different computers. It is found that the parallel DLSM code with OpenMP can reach a maximum speed‐up of 4.68× on a quad‐core PC. The parallel DLSM code with MPI can achieve a speed‐up of 40.886× when 256 CPUs are used on a cluster. At the end of this paper, a high‐resolution model with four million particles, which is too big to handle by the serial code, is simulated by using the parallel DLSM code on a cluster. It is concluded that the parallelization of DLSM is successful. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

岩石力学性质的应变率效应试验

以玄武岩为试样,开展了中低应变率下的岩石单轴抗压试验。本次研究分析应变率对岩石抗压强度、弹性模量、泊松比等力学参数的影响,分别提出了岩石抗压强度、弹性模量、泊松比等参数与应变率之间的拟合关系式。以峰值应力对应的应变和峰值后的软化模量为脆性评价指标,分析加载应变率对岩石脆性的影响。研究表明:(1)岩石抗压强度、弹性模量均随应变率的增加而增加。(2)岩石泊松比随应变率增加而减小。(3)随着应变率增加大,峰值应力对应的应变增大,峰值后的应变软化程度减小,岩石脆性减弱。(4)应变率对岩石抗压强度影响较大,对弹性模量和泊松比的影响较小。(5)曲线拟合效果良好,提出的拟合关系式合理。     

A generalised D matrix for anisotropic elastic granular media

A matrix relating stress and elastic strain tensors for anisotropic particulate materials has been derived. The magnitude of the matrix depends on the state of the material anisotropy. Anisotropy in granular materials depends on strain because normal and tangential particle contact forces, as well as the spatial distribution of the contacts, vary with stress and strain. However, the rotation tensor and the strain tensor cannot be independent; they must satisfy certain constraints to meet the requirement for macroscopic stress tensor symmetry. These conditions and constraints lead to the derivation of the matrix presented in this article. The principal directions of the stress tensor and strain tensor are generally not coincident, and the values of deformation parameters, Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio, are direction dependent; these two aspects are also discussed in this paper. Whereas this matrix can be used in static numerical analyses for elastic problems, we note that this relationship can also be used as a basis upon which to derive a fully incremental stress–strain relationship for anisotropic granular materials in the plastic state, where the anisotropy is evolving with strain.     

Dynamic Fracturing Simulation of Brittle Material using the Distinct Lattice Spring Method with a Full Rate-Dependent Cohesive Law

A full rate-dependent cohesive law is implemented in the distinct lattice spring method (DLSM) to investigate the dynamic fracturing behavior of brittle materials. Both the spring ultimate deformation and spring strength are dependent on the spring deformation rate. From the simulation results, it is found that the dynamic crack propagation velocity can be well predicted by the DLSM through the implemented full rate-dependent cohesive law. Furthermore, a numerical investigation on dynamic branching is also conducted by using the DLSM code.     

A boundary element method for identifying orthotropic material parameters

A new approach is proposed for identifying elastic constants for orthotropic material bodies by using the boundary element method. The material parameters which must be determined are two Young's moduli, a shear modulus and two Poisson's ratios. The method is applied to geotechnical engineering problems.     

Elastic consolidation around a point sink embedded in a half-space with anisotropic permeability

The complete solution is presented for the transient effects of pumping fluid from a point sink embedded in a saturated, porous elastic half-space. It is assumed that the medium is homogeneous and isotropic with respect to its elastic properties and homogeneous but anisotropic with respect to the flow of pore fluid. The soil skeleton is modelled as a linear elastic material obeying Hooke's law, while the pore fluid is assumed to be incompressible with its flow governed by Darcy's law. The solution has been evaluated for a particular value of Poisson's ratio of the solid skeleton, i.e. 0.25, and the results have been presented graphically in the form of isochrones of excess pore pressure and surface profile for the half-space. The solutions presented may have application in practical problems such as dewatering operations in compressible soil and rock masses.     

Transverse seismic kinematics of single piles by a modified Vlasov model

Within the framework of soil–pile interaction, a novel displacement scheme for the transverse kinematic response of single piles to vertically propagating S waves is proposed on the basis of the modified Vlasov foundation model. The displacement model contains a displacement function along the pile axis and an attenuation function along the radial direction. The governing equations and boundary conditions of the two undetermined functions are obtained in a coupled form by using Hamilton's principle. An iterative algorithm is adopted to decouple and solve the two unknown functions. In light of the governing equation of the pile kinematics, a mechanical model is proposed to evaluate the present method on a physical basis considering material damping. The coefficient of the equivalent Winkler spring is derived explicitly as function of the displacement decay parameter γ and soil Poisson's ratio. A parametric study is performed to investigate the effects of the soil–pile system properties on the kinematic response of single piles. The results show that the dimensionless pile length controls the transverse kinematics of piles. In terms of the theory of beams on elastic foundation, the classification limits of the dimensionless pile length may be π ∕ 4 and π, respectively. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fuzzy finite element analysis of a foundation on an elastic soil medium

One of the important factors that lead to errors in settlement predicitions is the degree of precision in obtaining the soil parameters. Most mathematical methods for reliability modelling offered to date in the area of geomechanics are based on the classical probabilistic approach, in which soil properties are treated as random variables. In this paper, a model based on the theory of fuzzy sets is presented to take account of the uncertainty in the soil behaviour. This proposed method considers the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio as two fuzzy numbers in the elastic matrix. An example is given to show the possibility distributions of the displacements and the stresses at some locations in the soil medium. By means of a fuzzy inference scheme, the total possibility distributions or total membership functions of the finite element results may be obtained by considering the estimated error resulting from the mesh discretization.     

A multilaminate constitutive model accounting for anisotropic small strain stiffness

In this paper an extension of existing multilaminate soil models is presented, which can account for inherent and stress‐induced cross‐anisotropic elasticity in the small strain range and its dependency on the load history. In the multilaminate framework, material behaviour is formulated on a number of local planes in each stress point, and the macroscopic response of the material is obtained by integration of the local contributions. Strain‐induced anisotropy, which adds to the stiffness anisotropy inherently present in the material, is therefore intrinsically taken into account. Micro–macro relations between local parameters on plane level and global parameters on macroscopic level are obtained by the spectral decomposition of the global elastic compliance matrix. The model is implemented into a finite‐element code, and model predictions are compared with experimental data of triaxial tests on different soils involving small and large load cycles. The importance of cross‐anisotropic elasticity within the small strain range for predicting ground deformations in geotechnical boundary value problems is discussed at the example of an excavation problem. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Finite element analysis of underground openings

A highly efficient technique is presented for the finite element analysis of stresses around underground openings surrounded by an infinite extent of linearly elastic rock mass. The effect of unbounded rock is incorporated in the analysis by using elastic supports around the finite element model. Expressions for stiffnesses of the elastic supports are derived and these are found to depend on the location of elastic supports, the shear modulus and Poisson's ratio of the rock, and the ratio of horizontal to vertical initial stresses. With the use of the proposed technique, the extent of the finite domain to be considered in the analysis is highly reduced. This results in a great computational advantage. The other principal merit of the proposed technique is that a standard finite element code for stress analysis may be used without making any modification. Results of some numerical tests are reported to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed method. The technique has the potential of being applied to more complex problems of unbounded domains in geomechanics.     

Characterization of clastic rock using a biconcave bond model of DEM

This paper presents a biconcave bond model to investigate the effect of the cementation between grains on the mechanical behavior of rock. The proposed model considers the shape of the bonds among particles that have a biconcave cement form, based on observations of microscopic rock images. The general equations of the proposed model are based on Dvorkin theory. The accuracy and efficiency of the bond model is improved in three ways. After the biconcave bond model is implemented in the discrete element method software Particle Flow Code in 2 Dimensions, a series of numerical uniaxial compression tests were performed to investigate the relationships between the micro‐ to macro‐parameters. The simulations revealed that the biconcave bond model reflects the effect of micro‐parameters, such as the elastic modulus and Poisson's ratio of the cement, on the macroscopic deformation of cemented granular material. Variations in the bond geometry caused extremely diverse macro‐mechanical behaviors. Experimental results concerning rock demonstrate that the biconcave bond model accurately captures the mechanical behavior of intact rock and supports an innovative method for investigating the relationships between the micro‐ and macro‐parameters of cemented granular material. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Resilient characterization of pavement materials

The paper presents an approach for characterizing pavement materials using the modified linear elastic behaviour. The secant modulus of elasticity is expressed in terms of the stress invariants and an expression for the secant Poisson's ratio is derived using path independence of the total work along a closed loading cycle. Triaxial test results of granular base–subbase materials which exhibit strong non-linear behaviour and dilatancy are analysed and presented. The constitutive law is included in a finite element program and results of pavement analyses are discussed. It is found that the secant Poisson's ratio of granular base materials reaches values between 0·6 and 0·7, indicating a volume increase under high stress ratios. The pavement response predicted using the above material characterization is compatible with non-destructive test results.     

Non-linear elastic finite element analysis of lateral earth pressures against basement wall

Perhaps the most widely used non-linear elastic soil behaviour law uses the hyperbolic functions to define tangent modulus and Poisson's ratio versus strain.^1,2 This paper presents the results of analytical studies with the hyperbolic elastic finite element technique for the prediction of static earth pressures against a 10-story basement wall. Carefully performed laboratory tests of the backfill material and measurements of earth pressures during backfilling provided the basis fora, refinement of the current hyperbolic elastic method. The refined analysis resulted in closer agreement of calculated earth pressures with measured values.     

Finite element analysis of two cylindrical expansion problems involving nearly incompressible material behaviour

The displacement formulation of the finite element method is well suited to the analysis of elasto-plasticity problems involving compressible material behaviour, but it is well known that numerical difficulties occur when the material is incompressible or nearly incompressible. The effect of these additional constraints depends on both element formulation and mesh topology. A two-dimensional plane strain finite element formulation suitable for the solution of problems involving large strains and displacements (but small rotations) based on the isoparametric approach is described. The kinematics of deformation are defined in terms of the Eulerian strain rates that are invariably used in small strain analysis; the formulation therefore retains some of the character of small strain theory but includes additional geometrically non-linear terms. The results of a series of plane strain finite element analyses of two cylindrical expansion problems are presented. These results confirm the previously observed trend that as Poisson's ratio approaches 0·5 then the quality of the calculated stress deteriorates. The study also indicates that the solution quality depends increasingly on mesh topology as perfect incompressibility is reached.     

Axisymmetric compression of a Mohr–Coulomb medium around a circular hole

An analytical solution is presented for the stress and strain fields in a Mohr–Coulomb material in plane strain around a circular hole when it is compressed by an axisymmetric far-field pressure. It is shown that several solutions arise involving one to three plastic zones depending on the values of Poisson's ratio and the friction angle. The solution chosen for presentation was obtained and used to validate the functioning of the Mohr–Coulomb yield condition that was added to the NONSAP finite element code. Stress and strain field comparisons are made.