DEM Modeling of Crushable Grain Material under Different Loading Conditions

Authors

  • M. Amine Benmebarek
    Affiliation
    Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Transport Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Egyetem tér 1, Győr 9026, Hungary
  • Majid Movahedi Rad
    Affiliation
    Department of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Transport Sciences, Széchenyi István University, Egyetem tér 1, Győr 9026, Hungary

https://doi.org/10.3311/PPci.17948

Abstract

This paper deals with the effect of contact conditions on the crushing mechanisms and the strength of granular materials. The computation of crushable grain material under different loading conditions is performed using 3D model of discrete element method (DEM). The crushable macro-grain is generated from a large number of identical spherical micro-grains which are connected according to the bonded particle model. First, the parameters of the proposed DEM model are calibrated to match the force-displacement curve obtained from Brazilian Tests performed on cylinders made of artificially crushable material. The damage profile right at the point when the force-displacement curve reaches its maximum is seen to replicate the same crack patterns observed in Brazilian test experiments. Then, parametric investigations are performed by varying the coordination number, the contact location distribution, and the contact area. The results show that these parameters play a significant role in determining the critical contact force and fracture mechanism of crushable particles compared to a traditional macro-grain crushing test. Increasing distribution and coordination number of the macro-grain increases particle strength when large area contact is permitted. However, for linear contact area, the effect of increasing coordination number on particle strength is marginal.

Keywords:

grain breakage, micro-grain, macro-grain, DEM simulation, fragmentation patterns

Citation data from Crossref and Scopus

Published Online

2021-04-23

How to Cite

Benmebarek, M. A., Movahedi Rad, M. “DEM Modeling of Crushable Grain Material under Different Loading Conditions”, Periodica Polytechnica Civil Engineering, 65(3), pp. 935–945, 2021. https://doi.org/10.3311/PPci.17948

Issue

Section

Research Article