Numerical simulation of rock fracture using three-dimensional extended discrete element method

Abstract

We perform three-dimensional numerical simulation of rock fracturing under uniaxial compression by extending the discrete element method (DEM). Rock sample is modeled as an assemblage of about four thousand spheres having the same radius. Each element satisfies equations of motion for both translation and rotation. In extension of the DEM, we assume cohesion between elements and constrained rotation of the elements; these assumptions are required to treat the continuum by the DEM. We study two cases of uniaxial compression tests: A homogeneous sample having an equal cohesion force between elements and heterogeneous sample having weak parts of cohesion in one percent of the total number of the bonds of elements. We present the detail of fracturing process of model rock samples and obtain stress-strain curve for each case. The homogeneous sample shows a cone-shaped fault system, whereas the heterogeneous sample shows complex fault system consisting of major and sub faults. We find that the inner stress and rotation of elements show the negative correlation during fracturing process. The results are in good agreement with both experimental and theoretical results.

Stress permutations: Three‐dimensional distinct element analysis accounts for a common phenomenon in brittle tectonics

“…Thus using this method is particularly worthwhile for analyzing the mechanical behavior of prefractured geological domains. Several modeling experiments have already demonstrated the ability of this method to solve geological problems involving fault behavior [ Dupin et al , 1993; Sassi et al , 1993; Homberg et al , 1997; Hu et al , 1997, 2001a, 2001b; Matsuda and Iwase , 2002; Pascal , 2002]. In the distinct element method the deformation of the medium is controlled by Newton's second law (for details, see Appendix A).…”

A 3D generalized rigid particle contact model for rock fracture

“…More recently 3D rigid spherical particle models have been proposed for geomaterials like rock (Matsuda and Iwase, 2002;Potyondy and Cundall, 2004) and concrete (Lilliu and Van Mier, 2003;Hentz et al, 2004;Cusatis et al, 2006). Models based on the rigid block spring method adopting 3D Voronoi polyhedral shape have also been developed for concrete (Nagai et al, 2005;Berton and Bolander, 2006).…”

Geo-engineered buffer capacity of two-layered absorbing system under the impact of rock avalanches based on Discrete Element Method

“…Rock parameter studies have been conducted by some scholars (Matsuda and Iwase 2002;Koyama et al 2007), which demonstrates that the macroscopic behavior of DEM rocks corresponds well with that of real rocks. In DEM, the macroscopic behavior of the granular media depends on the contact mechanical micro properties, and there is no direct solution relating these parameters.…”