• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.189-206
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• 2020

The accurate modeling of boundary conditions is important in simulations of the discrete element method (DEM) and can affect the numerical results significantly. In conventional triaxial compression (CTC) tests, the specimens are wrapped by flexible membranes allowing to deform freely. To accurately model the boundary conditions of CTC, new flexible boundary algorithms for 2D and 3D DEM simulations are proposed. The new algorithms are computationally efficient and easy to implement. Moreover, both horizontal and vertical component of confining pressure are considered in the 2D and 3D algorithms, which can ensure that the directions of confining pressure are always perpendicular to the specimen surfaces. Furthermore, the boundaries are continuous and closed in the new algorithms, which can prevent the escape of particles from the specimens. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is validated by biaxial and triaxial simulations of granular materials. The results show that the algorithms allow the boundaries to deform non-uniformly on the premise of maintaining high control accuracy of confining pressure. Meanwhile, the influences of different lateral boundary conditions on the numerical results are discussed. It is indicated that the flexible boundary is more appropriate for the models with large strain or significant localization than rigid boundary.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.11 no.10
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• pp.219-224
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• 2020

Industrial mixers to homogeneously blend particulate materials have been developed and widely used in various industries. However, most industrial mixers have at most two-degree-of-freedom for the operation, which limits the range of operation parameter selection for optimal blending. This paper proposes a multi-degree-of-freedom robotic mixer designed by converging a conventional drum blender and a robotic manipulator and evaluated its performance in a virtual operating environment. Discrete element simulations were conducted for mixing performance evaluation. The numerical results showed that the proposed mixer design exhibits a better mixing performance than conventional ones.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.21-32
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• 2016

PURPOSES : In this paper, the analytical solutions suggested to simulate the behavior of rheological fluids were rigorously re-derived and investigated for fixed conditions to evaluate the applicability for the solutions on a mini-cone slump test of cement paste. The selected solutions with proper boundary conditions can be used as reference solutions to evaluate the performance of numerical simulation approaches, such as the discrete element method. METHODS : The slump, height, and spread radius for the given boundary and yield stress conditions that are determined by five different analytical solutions are compared. RESULTS : The analytical solution based on fluid mechanics for pure shear flow shows similar results to that for intermediate flow at low yield stresses. The fluid mechanics-based analytical solution resulted in a very similar trend to the geometry-based analytical solution. However, it showed a higher slump at high yield stress and lower slump at low yield stress ranges than the geometry-based analytical model. The analytical solution based on the mini-cone geometry was not significantly affected by the yield criteria, such as von Mises and Tresca. CONCLUSIONS : Even though differences among the analytical solutions in terms of slump and spread radius existed, the difference can be considered insignificant when the solutions were used as reference to evaluate the appropriateness of numerical approaches, such as the discrete element method.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.37-44
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• 2017

PURPOSES : Conductive and convective heat transfer simulations for an asphalt mixture were made by using discrete element method (DEM) and similarity principle. METHODS : In this research, virtual specimens composed of discrete element method particles were generated according to four different predetermined particle size distribution curves. Temperature variations of the four different particles for a given condition were estimated and were compared with measurements and analytical solutions. RESULTS : The virtual specimen with mixed particles and with the smallest particle show very good agreement with laboratory test results and analytical solutions. As particle size decreases, better heat transfer simulation can be performed due to smaller void ratio and more contact points and areas. In addition, by utilizing the similarity principle of thermal properties and corresponding time unit, analytical time can be drastically reduced. CONCLUSIONS : It is concluded that the DEM asphalt mixture specimens with similarity principle could be used to predict the temperature variation for a given condition. It is observed that the void ratio has critical effect on prediction of temperature variation. Comparing the prediction for a 4 mm particle specimen with a mixed particle specimen, it is also concluded that predicting the mixed particle specimen temperature is much more efficient considering the number of particles that are directly associated with computational time in DEM analysis.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.715-722
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• 2016

Most of the domestic railroad tracks are ballast track and repetitive maintenance is required in this track. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize maintenance process for maintenance cost reduction and more effective maintenance. For this, it is important to develop a reasonable settlement progressive model of ballast layer. However, the behavior of ballast is different to that of soils, since ballast is composed of large coarse gravel. Thus, in this study, we carried out numerical analysis by using the discrete element method (PFC 2D) for better understanding of ballast settlement and development of reasonable settlement progressive model. And, we evaluated the settlement of ballast according to particles shape, porosity and loading conditions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.239-255
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• 2020

Experimental and discrete element method were used to investigate the effects of joint number and its angularities on the shear behaviour of joint's bridge area. A new shear test condition was used to model the gypsum cracks under shear loading. Gypsum samples with dimension of 120 mm×100 mm×50 mm were prepared. the length of joints was 2cm. in experimental tests, the joint number is 1, 2 and 3 and its angularities change from 0° to 90° with increment of 45°. Assuming a plane strain condition, special rectangular models are prepared with dimension of 120 mm×100 mm. similar to joints configuration in experimental test, 9 models with different joint number and joint angularities were prepared. This testing show that the failure process is mostly governed by the joint number and joint angularities. The shear strengths of the specimens are related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the discontinuities. The shear behaviour of discontinuities is related to the number of induced tensile cracks which are increased by increasing the rock bridge length. The strength of samples decreases by increasing the joint number and joint angularities. Failure pattern and failure strength are similar in both of the experimental test and numerical simulation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.243-257
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• 2016

The aim of this study is to investigate the seismic resistance of dry stone arches under in-plane seismic loading. For that purpose, several numerical analyses were performed using the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM). Twelve types of arches with different ratios of a rise at the mid-span to the span, different thicknesses of stone blocks and different numbers of stone blocks in the arch were subjected to an incremental dynamic analysis based on excitation from three real horizontal and vertical ground motions. The minimum value of the failure peak ground acceleration that caused the collapse of the arch was adopted as a measure of the seismic resistance. In this study, the collapse mechanisms of each type of stone arch, as well as the influence of the geometry of stone blocks and stone arches on the seismic resistance of structures were observed. The conclusions obtained on the basis of the performed numerical analyses can be used as guidelines for the design of dry stone arches.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.255-267
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• 2017

Soft clay strata can suffer significant settlement or stability problems under building loads. Among the methods proposed to strengthen weak soils is the application of a stone masonry trench (SMT) beneath RC strip foundations (as a masonry pad-stone). Although, SMTs are frequently employed in engineering practice; however, the effectiveness of SMTs on the ultimate bearing capacity improvement of a strip footing rested on a weak clay stratum has not been investigated quantitatively, yet. Therefore, the expected increase of bearing capacity of strip footings reinforced with SMTs is of interest and needs to be evaluated. This study presents a two-dimensional numerical model using the discrete element method (DEM) to capture the ultimate load-bearing capacity of a strip footing on a soft clay reinforced with a SMT. The developed DEM model was then used to perform a parametric study to investigate the effects of SMT geometry and properties on the footing bearing capacity with and without the presence of surcharge. The dimensions of the SMTs were varied to determine the optimum trench relative depth. The study showed that inclusion of a SMT of optimum dimension in a soft clay can improve the bearing capacity of a strip footing up to a factor of 3.5.

• 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.

• Proceeding of KASS Symposium
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.70-73
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• 2008

Because the inclination and crack of stone pagoda structure are caused by the depth difference of soft soil ground and ground subsidence in weak zone, a long-term conservation of stone pagoda structure is difficult. But it is insufficient to analyze the behavior of stone pagoda structure considering soft soil ground in our country. Therefore, we find the structural effect happening in stone pagoda structure by analyzing mechanically a specific of soft soil ground and carry out structural analysis and structural modelling of stone pagoda structure that considers soft soil ground by discrete element method.