Scaling granular material with polygonal particles in discrete element modeling (Open Access)--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Ahmadi, A., Larsson, S., & Wersäll, C. (2023). Scaling granular material with polygonal particles in discrete element modeling. Particuology, 75, 151-164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2022.07.005

Scaling granular material with polygonal particles in discrete element modeling (Open Access)

Alireza Ahmadi ^*, Stefan Larsson, Carl Wersäll

KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Division of Soil and Rock Mechanics, Brinellvägen 23, 100 44, Stockholm, Sweden

10.1016/j.partic.2022.07.005

Volume 75, April 2023, Pages 151-164

Received 3 May 2022, Revised 28 June 2022, Accepted 8 July 2022, Available online 21 July 2022, Version of Record 19 August 2022.

E-mail: alahmadi@kth.se

Highlights

• The scalping method can simulate the correct shear behavior of granular material.

• The scalping method improves computational time dramatically despite some loss of accuracy in predicted values.

• Particle size distribution has a significant effect on effectiveness of particle scalping.

• Particle angularity and rotation affect the accuracy of the scalping method.

Abstract

Despite advancements in computational resources, the discrete element method (DEM) still requires considerable computational time to solve detailed problems, especially when it comes to the large-scale models. In addition to the geometry scale of the problem, the particle shape has a dramatic effect on the computational cost of DEM. Therefore, many studies have been performed with simplified spherical particles or clumps. Particle scaling is an approach to increase the particle size to reduce the number of particles in the DEM. Although several particle scaling methods have been introduced, there are still some disagreements regarding their applicability to certain aspects of problems. In this study, the effect of particle scalping on the shear behavior of granular material is explored. Real granular particles were scanned and imported as polygonal particles in the direct shear test. The effect of particle size distribution, particle angularity, and the amount of scalping were investigated. The results show that particle scalping can simulate the correct shear behavior of the model with significant improvement in computational time. Also, the accuracy of the scalping method depends on the particle angularity and particle size range.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Particle scaling; Direct shear test; Discrete element method; PFC; Polygonal shape; Granular material

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