Modified predictor-corrector solution approach for efficient discontinuous deformation analysis of jointed rock masses

The high computational costs associated with the implicit formulation of discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) have been one of the major obstacles for its implementation to engineering problems involving jointed rock masses with large numbers of blocks. In this paper, the Newmark-based predictor-corrector solution (NPC) approach was modified to improve the performance of the original DDA solution module in modeling discontinuous problems. The equation of motion for a discrete block system is first established with emphasis on the consideration of contact constraints. A family of modified Newmark-based predictor-corrector integration (MNPC) scheme is then proposed and implemented into a unified analysis framework. Comparisons are made between the proposed approach and the widely used constant acceleration (CA) integration approach and central difference (CD) approach, regarding the stability and numerical damping features for a single-degree-of-freedom model, where the implications of the proposed approach on open-close iteration are also discussed. The validity of the proposed approach is verified by several benchmarking examples, and it is then applied to two typical problems with different numbers of blocks. The results show that the original CA approach in DDA is efficient for the simulation of quasi-static deformation of jointed rock masses, while the proposed MNPC approach leads to improved computational efficiency for dynamic analysis of large-scale jointed rock masses. The MNPC approach therefore provides an additional option for efficient DDA of jointed rock masses.