• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.47-57
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• 2010

Granular soils having a large particle size have been used as a filling material in the construction of foundation, harbor, dam, and so on. Consequently, the shear behavior of this granular soil plays a key role in respect of stability of structures. For example, soil particle crushing occurring at the interface between structure and soil and/or within soil mass can cause a disturbance of ground characteristics and consequently induce issues in respect of stability of structures. In order to investigate the shear behavior according to an existence and nonexistence of particle crushing, numerical analyses were conducted by using the DEM (Discrete Element Method)-based software program PFC2D (Particle Flow Code). By dividing soil particle bonding model into crushing model and noncrushing model, total four particle bonding models were simulated and their results were compared. Noncrushing model included one ball model and clump model, and crushing model included cluster model and Lobo-crushing model. The combinations of soil particle followed the research results of Lobo-Guerrero and Vallejo (2005) which were composed of eight circles. The results showed that the friction angle was in order of clump model > cluster model > one ball model. The particle bonding model compared to one ball model and noncrushing model compared to crushing model showed higher shear strength. It was also concluded that the model suggested by Lobo-Guerrero and Vallejo (2005) is not appropriate to simulate the soil particle crushing.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.665-678
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• 2014

In discrete element modeling, 2D software has been widely used in order to gain further insights into the fundamental mechanisms with less computational time. The porosities used in 2D DEM studies should be determined with appropriate approaches based on 3D laboratory porosities. This paper summarizes the main approaches for converting porosities from 3D to 2D for DEM studies and theoretical evaluations show that none of the current approaches can be widely used in dealing with soil mechanical problems. Therefore, a parabolic equation and a criterion have been suggested for the determination of 2D porosities in this paper. Moreover, a case study has been used to validate that the 2D porosity obtained from the above suggestion to be rational with both the realistic contact force distribution in the specimen and the good agreement of the DEM simulation results of direct shear tests with the corresponding experimental data. Therefore, the parabolic equation and the criterion are suggested for the determination of 2D porosities in a wide range of polydisperse particle systems, especially in dealing with soil mechanical problems.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.3
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• pp.379-386
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• 2018

The present study addresses the direct and indirect methods of determining the mode-I fracture toughness of concrete using experimental tests and particle flow code. The direct method used is compaction tensile test and the indirect methods are notched Brazilian disc test, semi-circular bend specimen test, and hollow center cracked disc. The experiments were carried out to determine which indirect method yields the fracture toughness closer to the one obtained by the direct method. In the numerical analysis, the PFC model was first calibrated with respect to the data obtained from the Brazilian laboratory test. The crack paths observed in the simulated tests were in reasonable accordance with experimental results. The discrete element simulations demonstrated that the macro fractures in the models are caused by microscopic tensile breakages on large numbers of bonded particles. The mode-I fracture toughness in the direct tensile test was smaller than the indirect testing results. The fracture toughness obtained from the SCB test was closer to the direct test results. Hence, the semi-circular bend test is recommended as a proper experiment for determination of mode-I fracture toughness of concrete in the absence of direct tests.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.101-105
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• 2016

Trap effect of groove is evaluated in a lubricating system using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis. The simulation is based on the standard k-ε turbulence model and the discrete phase model (DPM) using a commercial CFD code FLUENT. The simulation results are also capable of showing the particle trajectories in flow field. Computational domain is meshed using the GAMBIT pre-processor. The various grooves are applied in order to improve lubrication characteristics such as reduction of friction loss, increase in load carrying capacity, and trapping of the wear particles. Trap effect of groove is investigated with variations in cross-sectional shape and Reynolds number in this research. Various cross-sectional shapes of groove (rectangular, triangle, U shaped, trapezoid, elliptical shapes) are considered to evaluate the trap effect in simplified two-dimensional sliding bearing. The particles are assumed to steel, and defined a single particle injection condition in various positions. The “reflect” boundary condition for discrete phase is applied to the wall boundary, and the “escape” boundary condition to “pressure inlet” and “pressure outlet” conditions. The streamlines are compared with particles trajectories in the groove. From the results of numerical analysis in the study, it is found that the cross-sectional shapes favorable to the creation of vortex and small eddy current are effective in terms of particle trapping effect. Moreover, it is found that the Reynolds number has a strong influence on the pattern of vortex or small eddy current in the groove, and that the pattern of the vortex or small eddy current affects the trap effect of the groove.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.7
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• pp.1828-1834
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• 2019

The performance of a plastic scintillator for use in an in situ measurement system was analyzed using simulation and experimental methods. The experimental results of four major pure beta-emitting radionuclides, namely $^3H$, $^{14}C$, $^{32}P$, and $^{90}Sr/^{90}Y$, were compared with those obtained using a Monte Carlo N-particle (MCNP) code simulation. The MCNP simulation and experimental results demonstrated good agreement for $^{32}P$ and $^{90}Sr/^{90}Y$, with a relative difference of 1.95% and 0.43% between experimental and simulation efficiencies for $^{32}P$ and $^{90}Sr/^{90}Y$, respectively. However, owing to the short range of beta particles in water, the efficiency for $^{14}C$ was extremely low, and $^3H$ could not be detected. To directly measure the low-energy beta radionuclides considering their short range, a system where the source could flow directly to the scintillator was developed. The optimal thickness of the plastic scintillator was determined based on the suggested diameter. Results showed that the detection efficiency decreases with an increase in the depth of the water. The detection efficiency decreased drastically to approximately 10 cm, and the tendency was gradually constant.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.293-308
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• 2012

The shear behavior at the particle/surface interface such as rock joint can determine the mechanical behavior of whole structure. Therefore, a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms governing its behavior and accurately estimation of the interface strength is essential. In this paper, PFC, a numerical analysis program of discrete element method was used to investigate the effects of the surface roughness on interface strength. The surface roughness was characterized by smooth, intermediate, and rough surface, respectively. In order to investigate the effects of particle shape and crushing on particle/surface interface behavior, one ball, clump, and cluster models were created and their results were compared. The shape of particle was characterized by circle, triangle, square, and rectangle, respectively. The results showed that as the surface roughness increases, interface strength and friction angle increase and the void ratio increases. The one ball model with smooth surface shows lower interface strength and friction angle than the clump model with irregular surface. In addition, a cluster model has less interface strength and friction angle than the clump model. The failure envelope of the cluster model shows non-linear characteristic. From these findings, it is verified that the surface roughness and particle shape effect on the particle/surface interface shear behavior.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2002.08a
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• pp.697-698
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• 2002

The dispersion of an aerosol bolus in acinus is analyzed numerically. Model geometry is a straight duct surrounded by an axisymmetric semicircular annulus which is expanding or contracting with breathing. Unsteady Wavier-Stokes equation is solved by CFX-F3D, an FVM commercial code and the trajectory of massless particle Is computed by Lagrangian method. For steady flow with no wall motion, mean velocity of aerosol bolus in alveolated duct is a little smaller than that in straight duct and dispersion in alveolated duct is comparable with the dispersion in straight tube. For expanding duct mean velocity of aerosol bolus approaches half of that in straight tube and effective diffusivity is smaller than that of straight tube. For contracting duct mean velocity of aerosol bolus becomes slightly larger than that in straight tube and effective diffusivity is comparable with the case of straight tube.

• 한국연소학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2002.11a
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• pp.165-172
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• 2002

This paper discusses hydrodynamic characteristics of cold circulating fluidized bed(CFB) in different solid mass inventories. Operating parameters of solid mass inventory, primary air and J-valve fluidizing air were varied to find out the effect on the flow fludization pattern. Experimental measurements were made in a 3m tall CFB that has 0.05m riser diameter and black silica-carbonate of particle sizes from $100{\mu}m$ to $500{\mu}m$ were employed as the bed material. The operating conditions of superficial gas velocity and J-valve fluidizing velocity were in the ranges of 1.39~3.24 m/s and 0.139~0.232 m/s respectively. The axial solid fraction and solid circulation rate of CFB were observed and compared with modelling through IEA-CFBC Model and commercial CFD code.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.790-795
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• 2002

The object of this research is limited to the reduction of compression process noise only among the main sources of compressor noise such as motor noise, compression process noise, and valve port flow noise. Thus the research is focused on the wave motion rather than the particle motion of sound wave travels. A muffler is a commonly used device to reduce the compression process noise, generated by the pressure pulsations caused by the cyclic compression process. In this research, the acoustic characteristics of the muffler are analyzed by using the normal gradient integral equation proposed by Wu and Wan. Moreover, a commercial code SYSNOISE developed by indirect variational boundary integral equation is also used to validate the results. For the noise reduction, the topology optimization technique using a genetic algorithm is used. The number, size and position of the muffler holes are considered as design variables. Compared with original design, the optimized design has very improved acoustic characteristics. Both numerical and experimental analyses are used to evaluate new design.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2009.09a
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• pp.591-604
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• 2009

This paper presents some important issues in modeling rock behaviour around an underground opening at depth which characterized as stress-induced fractural failure of rock. Unlike other conventional modeling approaches, stress-induced rock failure is highly complex process due to its own heterogeneous and discrete natures. Because of this complexity, many researchers has been struggled to mimic such processes as close as possible to reality with various approaches in both analytical, and numerical approaches for past few decades. Such approaches which are based on continuum mechanics, analytical fracture mechanics, and DEM(Discrete Element Method) were explored in this paper, and fundamental shortcomings for each approaches were illustrated here. In addition, DEM approach using $PFC^{2D}$(Particle Flow Code) was also implemented and illuminated in this paper and discuss the improvement and considerations for the future research.