A coarse-grained bonded particle model for large-scale rock simulation

Abstract

For solving the computationally intensive problem encountered by the discrete element method (DEM) in simulating large-scale engineering problems, it is essential to establish a numerical model that can effectively simulate large-scale rocks. In this study, the coarse-graining effect of a linear-Mindlin with bonding model was studied in the unconfined compression strength (UCS) and Brazilian tensile strength (BTS) tests. We found that the main reason for the coarse-graining effect of the BTS tests is that the type I fracture toughness is positively correlated with the size of the particles. Based on the results analysis and fracture mechanics, the coarse-grained (CG) modeling theory was combined with a bonded particle model (BPM) for the first time and a coarse-grained bonded particle model (CG-BPM) was developed, which can be effectively used to model the tensile strength of large-scale rocks with different particle sizes. The excavation damage zone (EDZ) in an underground research laboratory (URL) was selected as an application case, which shows that the coarse-grained bonding model presented in this paper is more accurate and reliable than the traditional one in large-scale rock simulation, at least in the scenario where tensile failure is dominant.