• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.11-21
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• 2017

Ground subsidence mainly occurs due to the soil wash-away caused by cracked sewer pipes. It is necessary to understand the behavior surrounding soils with the formation of cavity and relaxation zone to set up counterplan. In this paper, a series of laboratory model tests and numerical analyses (Discrete Element Method) were performed to investigate the ground subsidence mechanism due to sewer pipe damage. For model tests, aluminum rod and trap door were used to simulate the behavior of model ground. Test results were compared with the numerical analyses conducted under the same boundary conditions with model tests. From this study, it was investigated the shape and size of cavity and relaxation zone due to the soil wash-away and a void ratio distribution of surrounding soils with relaxation properties.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.15-28
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• 2020

In this study, a procedure was introduced to estimate strength and deformation modulus of the 3-D discrete fracture network(DFN) systems using the distinct element method(DEM). Fracture entities were treated as non-persistent square planes in the DFN systems. Systematically generated fictitious fractures having similar mechanical characteristics of intact rock were combined with non-persistent real fractures to create polyhedral blocks in the analysis domain. Strength and deformation modulus for 10 m cube domain of various deterministic and stochastic 3-D DFN systems were estimated using the DEM to explore the applicability of suggested method and to examine the effect of fracture geometry on strength and deformability of DFN systems. The suggested procedures were found to effective in estimating anisotropic strength and deformability of the 3-D DFN systems.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.521-532
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• 2021

Present paper focuses on the modeling of size effect on the compressive strength of normal concrete with the application of Discrete Element Method (DEM). Test specimens with different size and shape were cast and uniaxial compressive strength test was performed on each sample. Five different concrete mixes were used, all belonging to a different normal strength concrete class (C20/25, C30/37, C35/45, C45/55, and C50/60). The numerical simulations were carried out by using the PFC 5 software, which applies rigid spheres and contacts between them to model the material. DEM modeling of size effect could be advantageous because the development of micro-cracks in the material can be observed and the failure mode can be visualized. The series of experiments were repeated with the model after calibration. The relationship of the parallel bond strength of the contacts and the laboratory compressive strength test was analyzed by aiming to determine a relation between the compressive strength and the bond strength of different sized models. An equation was derived based on Bazant's size effect law to estimate the parallel bond strength of differently sized specimens. The parameters of the equation were optimized based on measurement data using nonlinear least-squares method with SSE (sum of squared errors) objective function. The laboratory test results showed a good agreement with the literature data (compressive strength is decreasing with the increase of the size of the specimen regardless of the shape). The derived estimation models showed strong correlation with the measurement data. The results indicated that the size effect is stronger on concretes with lower strength class due to the higher level of inhomogeneity of the material. It was observed that size effect is more significant on cube specimens than on cylinder samples, which can be caused by the side ratios of the specimens and the size of the purely compressed zone. A limit value for the minimum size of DE model for cubes and cylinder was determined, above which the size effect on compressive strength can be neglected within the investigated size range. The relationship of model size (particle number) and computational time was analyzed and a method to decrease the computational time (number of iterations) of material genesis is proposed.

• Resources Recycling
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.36-43
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• 2022

The general screen used to separate the particle size of recycled aggregate has restrictions when dealing with moisturized materials because of the blockage phenomenon. Therefore, in this study, to improve the separation efficiency of the conventional screen, the excellence of additional vibrating device based on spring was decided by a simulation experiment based on the discrete element method (DEM). The motion characteristic was investigated by analyzing the displacement, amplitude, and strain angle based on the spring design. Further, the particle motion was simulated by applying spring motion. The material flow and separation efficiency of the screen applied spring were confirmed as 9.2 kg/s and 97 %, respectively. Consequently, the improvement in the screen applied with blockage prevention spring was confirmed by comparing with the conventional screen.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.71-79
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• 2023

In the field of agricultural machinery, various on-field tests are conducted to measure design load for optimal design of agricultural equipment. However, field test procedures are costly and time-consuming, and there are many constraints on field soil conditions due to weather, so research on utilizing simulation to overcome these shortcomings is needed. Therefore, this study aimed to model agricultural soils using discrete element method (DEM) software. To simulate draft force, predictions are made according to travel speed and compared to field test results to validate the prediction accuracy. The measured soil properties are used for DEM modeling. In this study, the soil property measurement procedure was designed to measure the physical and mechanical properties. DEM soil model calibration was performed using a virtual vane shear test instead of the repose angle test. The DEM simulation results showed that the prediction accuracy of the draft force was within 4.8% (2.16~6.71%) when compared to the draft force measured by the field test. In addition, it was confirmed that the result was up to 72.51% more accurate than those obtained through theoretical methods for predicting draft force. This study provides useful information for the DEM soil modeling process that considers the working speed from the perspective of agricultural machinery research and it is expected to be utilized in agricultural machinery design research.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.44-52
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• 2024

In this study, we predicted PTO power requirements based on torque predicted by the discrete element method and the multi-body dynamics coupling method. Six different scenarios were simulated to predict PTO power requirements in different soil conditions. The first scenario was a tillage operation on cohesionless soil, and the field was modeled using the Hertz-Mindlin contact model. In the second through sixth scenarios, tillage operations were performed on viscous soils, and the field was represented by the Hertz-Mindlin + JKR model for cohesion. To check the influence of surface energy, a parameter to reproduce cohesion, on the power requirement, a simple regression analysis was performed. The significance and appropriateness of the regression model were checked and found to be acceptable. The study findings are expected to be used in design optimization studies of agricultural machinery by predicting power requirements using the discrete element method and the multi-body dynamics coupling method and analyzing the effect of soil cohesion on the power requirement.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.145-154
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• 2024

This study used the discrete element method (DEM) to model the driving process of open-ended piles and investigate the behavior of soil plug during pile penetration. The developed DEM model was verified by comparing model pile test results and numerical analysis, particularly using a contact model considering rolling resistance between soil particles. The study successfully simulated soil compression inside the pile by adjusting the relative density and penetration velocity, and it was confirmed that the soil plug tended to be more compressed as the initial penetration velocity decreased. Soil plug length measurements, plug length ratio, and incremental filling ratio were analyzed and validated against experimental results. The developed DEM model aims to reduce trial and error in further studies by detailing the modeling and verification process.

• Journal of Drive and Control
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.46-55
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• 2024

In the agricultural machinery field, load analysis is mostly done through field tests. However, field tests are time-consuming and costly. There are also limitations in test conditions due to weather conditions. To overcome these environmental limitations, research on load analysis through simulation in a virtual environment is actively being conducted. This study aimed to select the most appropriate soil particle size for modeling by analyzing the effect of soil particle size on the prediction of draft force of the implement using simulation and soil particle modeling in a virtual environment with the discrete element method (DEM) software. The accuracy was verified by simulating the draft force for the same moving speed by soil particle size. For soil particle modeling, DEM soil modeling was performed by designing soil property measurement procedure. Soil particle correction was performed with a virtual vane shear test. Average DEM simulation results showed an error of 27.39% (19.43~40.66%) compared to actual measured data. The possibility of improvement was confirmed through additional research. Results of this study provide useful information for selecting soil particle size in soil modeling using DEM from the perspective of agricultural machinery research.

• Magazine of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.145-153
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• 1996

The fracture process zone in concrete is a region ahead of a traction-free crack, in which two major mechanisms, microcracking and bridging, play important roles. The toughness due to bridging is dominant compared to toughness induced by microcracking, so that the bridging is dominani: mechanism governing the fracture process of concrete. Fracture mechanics does work for concrete provided that the fracture process zone is being considered, so that the development of model for the fracture process zone is most important to describe fracture phenomena in concrete. In this paper the bridging zone, which is a part of extended rnacrocrack with stresses transmitted by aggregates in concrete, is modelled by a Dugdale-Barenblatt type model with linear tension-softening curve. Two finite element techniques are shown for the analysis of progressive cracking in concrete based on the discrete crack approach: one with crack element, the other without crack element. The advantage of the technique with crack element is that it dees not need to update the mesh topology to follow the progressive cracking. Numerical results by the techniques are demonstrated.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 1997

Despite of the development in the finite element method, it is difficult to get the finite element model describing the dynamic characteristics of the complex structure exactly. Therefore a number of different methods have been developed in order to update the finite element model of a structure using vibration test data. This paper outlines the basic formulation for the frequency response function based updating method. One important advantage of this method is that the intermediate step of performing an eigensolution extraction is unnecessary. Using simulated experimental data, studies are conducted in the case of 10 DOF discrete system. The solution of noisy and incomplete experimental data is discussed. True measured frequency response function data are used for updating the finite element model of a beam and a plate. Its applicability to the joint identification is also considered.