Influence of particle contact models on soil response of poorly graded sand during cavity expansion in discrete element simulation

The discrete element method (DEM) has been extensively adopted to investigate many complex geotechnical related problems due to its capability to incorporate the discontinuous nature of granular materials. In particular, when simulating large deformations or distortion of soil (e.g. cavity expansion), DEM can be very effective as other numerical solutions may experience convergence problems. Cavity expansion theory has widespread applications in geotechnical engineering, particularly to the problems concerning in situ testing, pile installation and so forth. In addition, the behaviour of geomaterials in a macro-level is utterly determined by microscopic properties, highlighting the importance of contact models. Despite the fact that there are numerous contact models proposed to mimic the realistic behaviour of granular materials, there are lack of studies on the effects of these contact models on the soil response. Hence, in this study, a series of three-dimensional numerical simulations with different contact constitutive models was conducted to simulate the response of sandy soils during cylindrical cavity expansion. In this numerical investigation, three contact models, i.e. linear contact model, rolling resistance contact model, and Hertz contact model, are considered. It should be noted that the former two models are linear based models, providing linearly elastic and frictional plasticity behaviours, whereas the latter one consists of nonlinear formulation based on an approximation of the theory of Mindlin and Deresiewicz. To examine the effects of these contact models, several cylindrical cavities were created and expanded gradually from an initial radius of 0.055 m to a final radius of 0.1 m. The numerical predictions confirm that the calibrated contact models produced similar results regarding the variations of cavity pressure, radial stress, deviatoric stress, volumetric strain, as well as the soil radial displacement. However, the linear contact model may result in inaccurate predictions when highly angular soil particles are involved. In addition, considering the excessive soil displacement induced by the pile installation (i.e. cavity expansion), a minimum distance of 11a (a is the cavity radius) is recommend for practicing engineers to avoid the potential damages to the existing piles and adjacent structures.     

Discrete element method study on hopper discharge behaviors of binary mixtures of nonspherical particles

This study is aimed at unveiling the influence of binary mixtures of nonspherical particles on hopper discharge behavior, which remains poorly understood. The discrete element method (DEM) is employed to simulate seven particle types with aspect ratios between 0 and 2 (namely, a sphere, two ellipsoids, two cylinders, and two cuboids) with the same volume. Seven monodisperse systems and twelve binary-shape mixtures are assessed. For the monodisperse systems, particle shape is the dominant factor dictating discharge rate, compared to other factors like aspect ratio, preferential orientation, and packing. Regarding the binary-shape mixtures, the discharge rates are similar for all twelve mixtures, reflecting a surprising lack of shape effects, which in turn means the negligible impact of solid volume fraction, aspect ratio, and segregation extent. Moreover, collision force is generally negatively correlated with discharge rate.     

Modeling the Electrical Conductive Paths within All-Solid-State Battery Electrodes

All-solid-state batteries constitute a very promising energy storage device. Two very important properties of these battery cells are the ionic and the electrical conductivity, which describe the ion and the electron transport through the electrodes, respectively. In this work, a numerical method is presented to model the electrical conductivity, considering the outcome of discrete-element method simulations and the intrinsic conductivities of both the active material particles and the conductive additive particles. The results are calibrated and validated with the help of experimental data of real manufactured electrodes. The tortuosity, which strongly influences the ionic conductivity, is also presented for the analyzed electrodes, taking their microstructure into account.     

Microscale investigation into mechanical behaviors of heat-bonded nonwoven geotextile using DEM

Heat-bonded nonwoven geotextiles (HBNGs) made from synthetic fibers are widely used in engineering practices. One of the challenges on the way is to link the properties of fibers and the fabric's microstructure to the deformation and failure mechanisms of HBNGs. In this study, a random distribution geometry method was developed to reproduce the complex fibrous structure of HBNG. A piecewise linear model was adopted to reproduce the nonlinear stress-strain relationships of single fibers. The present method has been successfully applied in the simulation of uniaxial and biaxial tensile tests and puncture test. The orientation distribution of fibers and the mechanical behaviors (e.g., deformation, strain localization, force-strain relationship) of HBNG specimen were reasonably simulated. Specifically, the hourglass shape during uniaxial tensile test, the axisymmetric deformation pattern during biaxial tensile test and the trumpet shape during puncture test were all well reproduced. The present method provides an applicable tool to study the complicated mechanical behaviors of HBNG and is also helpful to obtain a better understanding of its deformation and failure mechanisms.     

A review of methods,applications and limitations for incorporating fluid flow in the discrete element method

The past decade has witnessed the substantial growth in research interests and progress on the subject of coupled hydro-mechanical processes in rocks and soils, driven mainly by the surge of research in unconventional hydrocarbon reservoirs and associated hazards. Many coupling techniques have been developed to include the effects of fluid flow in the discrete element method (DEM), and the techniques have been applied to a variety of geomechanical problems. Although these coupling methods have been successfully applied in various engineering fields, no single fluid/DEM coupling method is universal due to the complexity of engineering problems and the limitations of the numerical methods. For researchers and engineers, the key to solve a specific problem is to select the most appropriate fluid/DEM coupling method among these modeling technologies. The purpose of this paper is to give a comprehensive review of fluid flow/DEM coupling methods and relevant research. Given their importance, the availability or unavailability of best practice guidelines is outlined. The theoretical background and current status of DEM are introduced first, and the principles, applications, and advantages and disadvantages of different fluid flow/DEM coupling methods are discussed. Finally, a summary with speculation on future development trends is given.     

地籍测量中面积量算方法分析对比

文章分别利用传统的面积统计方法(即在南方CASS软件中利用全解析法进行面积量算)与在ArcGIS中通过建立DEM模型来减少投影变形之后进行面积量算两种方法进行比较。经比较得出两种面积统计方法都是正确可行的,但利用ArcGIS建立的TIN模型,建立了测区的三维模型,并可以统计出了测区的表面积。在地形起伏较大的地区进行土地勘测定界工作,面积计算时应充分考虑起伏的地表表面积与其平面面积的差异,这对土地征收、征用、农用地转用等具有重要的实际意义。     

Coupled DEM-SPH simulations of wet continuous screening

During screening, a liquid stream, besides the vibration, can be applied for the acceleration of the separation. The discrete element method coupled with the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (DEM-SPH) is used to numerically analyse wet continuous screening here. Within the applied DEM-SPH a new simple model for the representation of the screening surface is suggested in this study. In this model, the influence of the screening surface on the fluid is represented using external forces, which act on the SPH particles in close vicinity of the screen. A required validation of the DEM-SPH method for the analysis of a vibrated particle-laden system is performed by comparing obtained DEM-SPH results with the results derived using the DEM coupled with finite volume method. The performed simulations of dry and wet continuous screening demonstrate that flowing water, in most simulated cases, accelerates the separation of particles. The presented study demonstrates the potential of the coupled DEM-SPH method for the analysis of wet screening processes. To our best knowledge, the simulation of wet screening using a two-way coupled numerical DEM-SPH approach not resolving the flow around individual particles is demonstrated in the scientific literature for the first time.     

Parallel Processing for Terrain Analysis in GIS: Visibility as a Case Study

The application of parallel processing to computationally intensive GIS problems has been advocated and illustrated by many researchers over the last twenty years. Despite this, GIS users have been slow to capitalize on the potential which the technology offers. Whilst todays processors are adequate for the majority of GIS uses, some applications are too processor-intensive to be deemed viable for serial machines. This is particularly true of many digital terrain modelling applications, which has been the primary focus of parallel processing in GIS to date.This paper considers the problem of parallelizing line-of-sight (LOS) calculations in determining the visibility indices of entities such as elevation vertices in a digital terrain model (DTM). This is a requirement of site selection for a particular development, especially if visibility, or more specifically, visual intrusion is likely to be a key factor in gaining planning approval. To demonstrate the simplicity and applicability of parallelizing such GIS problems, this paper presents some parallel approaches in an efficient data organization, framework using a Transputer network. Speed-up performance can be increased by a factor of twelve using a simple network of twenty Transputers. As vast quantities of spatial data become available, particularly DTMs at larger scales and denser resolution, the demands for parallel processing will inevitably increase. It is hoped that the continued experiences of todays researchers at applying parallel processing to well-defined problems will benefit the GIS users of tomorrow.     

DEM分辨率对小流域设计洪峰推求误差的影响

推理公式法在小流域设计洪水的计算中被广泛应用,DEM数据分辨率对公式中的流域地形参数取值存在重要影响,甚至会造成设计洪峰流量的计算误差。以深圳石岩流域作为研究区域,分别采用分辨率为30,60,90,120,150 m的DEM数据进行流域地形参数的提取及比较分析,并针对推理公式中的3个流域地形参数进行敏感性分析。研究结果表明:随着DEM分辨率的增大,分析的流域面积有增大趋势,主河道坡降则反之,而干流河长随DEM分辨率呈无规律变化;3个流域地形参数中,流域面积取值误差对设计洪峰计算精度影响最大,其次为干流河长,主河道坡降影响较小。综合考虑参数重要性,以及DEM数据分辨率及集水面积阈值对参数取值的影响,选用90 m分辨率的DEM数据,并设置集水面积阈值为390~500 hm~2来提取石岩流域的地形参数,推理公式计算所得设计洪峰误差是可接受的。研究结果可为类似的小流域设计洪水计算提供一定参考。     

A calibration framework for discrete element model parameters using genetic algorithms

In this research, a universal framework for automated calibration of microscopic properties of modeled granular materials is proposed. The proposed framework aims at industrial scale applications, where optimization of the computational time step is important. It can be generally applied to all types of DEM simulation setups. It consists of three phases: data base generation, parameter optimization, and verification. In the first phase, DEM simulations are carried out on a multi-dimensional grid of sampled input parameter values to generate a database of macroscopic material responses. The database and experimental data are then used to interpolate the objective functions with respect to an arbitrary set of parameters. In the second phase, the Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II) is used to solve the calibration multi-objective optimization problem. In the third phase, the DEM simulations using the results of the calibrated input parameters are carried out to calculate the macroscopic responses that are then compared with experimental measurements for verification and validation.The proposed calibration framework has been successfully demonstrated by a case study with two-objective optimization for the model accuracy and the simulation time. Based on the concept of Pareto dominance, the trade-off between these two conflicting objectives becomes apparent. Through verification and validation steps, the approach has proven to be successful for accurate calibration of material parameters with the optimal simulation time.