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Volume 114
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A DEM–FEM coupling framework for particle–membrane interaction
Ning Guo, Zhangbin Xu, Tao Yu *
Computing Center for Geotechnical Engineering, Zhejiang Key Laboratory of the Development and Utilization of Underground Space, Department of Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China
10.1016/j.partic.2026.04.023
Volume 114, July 2026, Pages 307-319
Received 13 March 2026, Revised 16 April 2026, Accepted 29 April 2026, Available online 9 May 2026, Version of Record 14 May 2026.
E-mail: tyu_civil@zju.edu.cn
Highlights

• A GPU-parallelized DEM–FEM framework for particle–membrane interaction.

• A total Lagrangian membrane element capturing geometric nonlinearity.

• Dynamic membrane roughness evolution induced by granular penetration.

• Full-scale 3D soil–geomembrane interface direct shear test.


Abstract

The interaction between granular materials and highly flexible membranes involves complex micromechanical contact and severe localized deformations, posing significant challenges for numerical modeling. Traditional pure discrete element method (DEM) approaches that employ bonded particle model (BPM) fail to capture the dynamic changes in surface roughness arising from membrane penetration into granular voids. This paper presents a GPU-parallelized explicit dynamic framework that couples DEM and the finite element method (FEM) to address this limitation. A total Lagrangian membrane element is implemented to capture geometric nonlinearity and follower loads, and is coupled with DEM through a penalty-based contact algorithm. The accuracy and robustness of the DEM–FEM coupling framework are validated against classical benchmarks for membrane inflation, penetration, and particle–membrane interaction. Finally, a 3D soil–geomembrane interface direct shear test, comprising over 170,000 particles at true physical scale, is simulated without artificial upscaling. The results successfully reproduce macroscopic strain-softening behavior and capture the underlying micromechanical interface mechanisms. By enabling the membrane topography to dynamically adapt to varying normal stresses, the proposed framework overcomes the static roughness limitations of BPM, providing a highly efficient computational tool for large-scale particle–membrane interaction problems.

Graphical abstract
Keywords
DEM–FEM; Membrane element; GPU parallelization; Particle–membrane interaction
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