Contact Overlap Calculation Algorithms and Benchmarks Based on Blocky Discrete-Element Method
Publication: International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22, Issue 12
Abstract
The mechanical response of granular materials has been investigated widely using discontinuous modeling, such as the discrete-element method (DEM). Contact detection and contact resolution have been critical issues when modeling multiple body contacts, especially for arbitrary polyhedral blocks. In this study, the contact overlap calculation algorithms, including polyhedron–polyhedron and polyhedron–boundary contact, were developed to calculate the contact characteristics. For polyhedron–polyhedron contact, the contact overlap volume algorithm is developed based on the geometric dualization theory. The Gilbert–Johnson–Keerthi (GJK) and Quickhull algorithms are used to calculate the overlap polyhedron. The contact characteristics, such as normal direction (n), contact area (a), and penetration depth (un) could be extracted from the contact overlap volume. For polyhedron–boundary contact, a novel and effective algorithm is presented, where the polyhedron–boundary contact is transformed into polyhedron–triangle contact. Then, two types of benchmarks are used to verify the previously mentioned algorithms, which demonstrated that the algorithms could handle the complicated contact types and maintained contact continuity even from face to edge contact. As a complex benchmark, the failure process in a masonry structure is simulated and compared with the model test.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the projects of the Natural Science Foundation of China, China (52079067, 51879142), the Research Fund Program of the State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering (2020-KY-04), and the Natural Science Foundation of Fujian (2019J05162).
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Published In
International Journal of Geomechanics
Volume 22 • Issue 12 • December 2022
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© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Oct 28, 2021
Accepted: Jun 5, 2022
Published online: Sep 26, 2022
Published in print: Dec 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Feb 26, 2023
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