SUMMARYBonded particle modelling (BPM) is nowadays being extensively used for simulating brittle material failure. In BPM, material is modelled as a dense assemblage of particles (grains) connected together by contacts (cement). This sort of modelling seriously depends on the mechanical properties of particle and contact, which are named here as micro-parameters. However, a definite calibration methodology to obtain micro-parameters has not been so far established; and many have reported some serious problems. In this research, a calibration procedure to find a unique set of micro-parameters is established. To attain this purpose, discrete element code of UDEC is used to perform BPM. This code can be conveniently developed by the user. The proposed BPM is composed of rigid polygonal particles interacting at their contact points. These contacts can undergo a certain amount of tension, and their shear resistance is provided by cohesion and friction angle. The results demonstrate that each material macro-property (i.e. Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, internal friction angel, internal cohesion, and tensile strength) is directly originated from and distinctly related to the contact properties (i.e. normal and shear stiffness, friction angel, cohesion, and tensile strength).

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A full rate-dependent cohesive law is implemented in the distinct lattice spring method (DLSM) to investigate the dynamic fracturing behavior of brittle materials. Both the spring ultimate deformation and spring strength are dependent on the spring deformation rate. From the simulation results, it is found that the dynamic crack propagation velocity can be well predicted by the DLSM through the implemented full rate-dependent cohesive law. Furthermore, a numerical investigation on dynamic branching is also conducted by using the DLSM code.

A discrete element model is proposed to examine rock strength and failure. The model is implemented by UDEC, which is developed for this purpose. The material is represented as a collection of irregularsized deformable particles interacting at their cohesive boundaries. The interface between two adjacent particles is viewed as a flexible contact whose constitutive law controls the material fracture and fragmentation properties. To reproduce rock anisotropy, an orthotropic cohesive law is developed for the contacts, which allows their shear and tensile behaviors to be different from each other. Using a combination of original closed-form expressions and statistical calibrations, a unique set of the contact microparameters are found based on the uniaxial/triaxial compression and Brazilian tension test data of a plaster. Applying the obtained microparameters, joint specimens, made of the same plaster, are simulated, where the comparison of the obtained results to laboratory data shows a reasonable agreement.