From discrete to continuum modelling of boundary value problems in geomechanics: An integrated FEM-DEM approach |
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Authors: | Jacques Desrues Albert Argilaga Denis Caillerie Gaël Combe Trung Kiên Nguyen Vincent Richefeu Stefano Dal Pont |
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Institution: | 1. University of Grenoble Alpes, CNRS, Grenoble INP, Grenoble, France;2. Urban and Environmental Engineering/Geomechanics, University of Liege, Liege, Belgium;3. Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Hanoi, Vietnam |
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Abstract: | Double-scale numerical methods constitute an effective tool for simultaneously representing the complex nature of geomaterials and treating real-scale engineering problems such as a tunnel excavation or a pressuremetre at a reasonable numerical cost. This paper presents an approach coupling discrete elements (DEM) at the microscale with finite elements (FEM) at the macroscale. In this approach, a DEM-based numerical constitutive law is embedded into a standard FEM formulation. In this regard, an exhaustive discussion is presented on how a 2D/3D granular assembly can be used to generate, step by step along the overall computation process, a consistent Numerically Homogenised Law. The paper also focuses on some recent developments including a comprehensive discussion of the efficiency of Newton-like operators, the introduction of a regularisation technique at the macroscale by means of a second gradient framework, and the development of parallelisation techniques to alleviate the computational cost of the proposed approach. Some real-scale problems taking into account the material spatial variability are illustrated, proving the numerical efficiency of the proposed approach and the benefit of a particle-based strategy. |
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Keywords: | DEM double-scale approach FEM granular materials numerical modelling second gradient regularisation |
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