Numerical simulation of brittle failure of rock using MPS method and DEM

Abstract

We developed a novel method for simulating brittle failure of rock based on the combination of the moving particle semi-implicit (MPS) and the discrete element methods (DEM). The MPS method is a kind of particle methods, and can simulate behavior of continuous bodies without going through a calibration process. On the other hand, DEM is used to calculate collision of fragments after macroscopic failure. This strategy can simulate deformation behavior of rock in not only pre-failure but also post-failure behavior in a seamless manner. We evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method using a numerical experiment. Our experiment consists of a brittle sphere and a steel plate. The sphere collides with the plate with a certain speed. The failure criterion is only applied to particles constitute the brittle sphere. We compare the failure pattern of the brittle sphere with that of a laboratory experiment. Our result shows excellent agreement with the laboratory result. This indicates that the proposed method could be an alternative to the conventional numerical methods for simulating discontinuous behavior of brittle materials.