• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.21-32
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• 2016

PURPOSES : In this paper, the analytical solutions suggested to simulate the behavior of rheological fluids were rigorously re-derived and investigated for fixed conditions to evaluate the applicability for the solutions on a mini-cone slump test of cement paste. The selected solutions with proper boundary conditions can be used as reference solutions to evaluate the performance of numerical simulation approaches, such as the discrete element method. METHODS : The slump, height, and spread radius for the given boundary and yield stress conditions that are determined by five different analytical solutions are compared. RESULTS : The analytical solution based on fluid mechanics for pure shear flow shows similar results to that for intermediate flow at low yield stresses. The fluid mechanics-based analytical solution resulted in a very similar trend to the geometry-based analytical solution. However, it showed a higher slump at high yield stress and lower slump at low yield stress ranges than the geometry-based analytical model. The analytical solution based on the mini-cone geometry was not significantly affected by the yield criteria, such as von Mises and Tresca. CONCLUSIONS : Even though differences among the analytical solutions in terms of slump and spread radius existed, the difference can be considered insignificant when the solutions were used as reference to evaluate the appropriateness of numerical approaches, such as the discrete element method.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.37-44
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• 2017

PURPOSES : Conductive and convective heat transfer simulations for an asphalt mixture were made by using discrete element method (DEM) and similarity principle. METHODS : In this research, virtual specimens composed of discrete element method particles were generated according to four different predetermined particle size distribution curves. Temperature variations of the four different particles for a given condition were estimated and were compared with measurements and analytical solutions. RESULTS : The virtual specimen with mixed particles and with the smallest particle show very good agreement with laboratory test results and analytical solutions. As particle size decreases, better heat transfer simulation can be performed due to smaller void ratio and more contact points and areas. In addition, by utilizing the similarity principle of thermal properties and corresponding time unit, analytical time can be drastically reduced. CONCLUSIONS : It is concluded that the DEM asphalt mixture specimens with similarity principle could be used to predict the temperature variation for a given condition. It is observed that the void ratio has critical effect on prediction of temperature variation. Comparing the prediction for a 4 mm particle specimen with a mixed particle specimen, it is also concluded that predicting the mixed particle specimen temperature is much more efficient considering the number of particles that are directly associated with computational time in DEM analysis.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.715-722
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• 2016

Most of the domestic railroad tracks are ballast track and repetitive maintenance is required in this track. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize maintenance process for maintenance cost reduction and more effective maintenance. For this, it is important to develop a reasonable settlement progressive model of ballast layer. However, the behavior of ballast is different to that of soils, since ballast is composed of large coarse gravel. Thus, in this study, we carried out numerical analysis by using the discrete element method (PFC 2D) for better understanding of ballast settlement and development of reasonable settlement progressive model. And, we evaluated the settlement of ballast according to particles shape, porosity and loading conditions.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.239-255
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• 2020

Experimental and discrete element method were used to investigate the effects of joint number and its angularities on the shear behaviour of joint's bridge area. A new shear test condition was used to model the gypsum cracks under shear loading. Gypsum samples with dimension of 120 mm×100 mm×50 mm were prepared. the length of joints was 2cm. in experimental tests, the joint number is 1, 2 and 3 and its angularities change from 0° to 90° with increment of 45°. Assuming a plane strain condition, special rectangular models are prepared with dimension of 120 mm×100 mm. similar to joints configuration in experimental test, 9 models with different joint number and joint angularities were prepared. This testing show that the failure process is mostly governed by the joint number and joint angularities. The shear strengths of the specimens are related to the fracture pattern and failure mechanism of the discontinuities. The shear behaviour of discontinuities is related to the number of induced tensile cracks which are increased by increasing the rock bridge length. The strength of samples decreases by increasing the joint number and joint angularities. Failure pattern and failure strength are similar in both of the experimental test and numerical simulation.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.243-257
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• 2016

The aim of this study is to investigate the seismic resistance of dry stone arches under in-plane seismic loading. For that purpose, several numerical analyses were performed using the combined finite-discrete element method (FDEM). Twelve types of arches with different ratios of a rise at the mid-span to the span, different thicknesses of stone blocks and different numbers of stone blocks in the arch were subjected to an incremental dynamic analysis based on excitation from three real horizontal and vertical ground motions. The minimum value of the failure peak ground acceleration that caused the collapse of the arch was adopted as a measure of the seismic resistance. In this study, the collapse mechanisms of each type of stone arch, as well as the influence of the geometry of stone blocks and stone arches on the seismic resistance of structures were observed. The conclusions obtained on the basis of the performed numerical analyses can be used as guidelines for the design of dry stone arches.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.255-267
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• 2017

Soft clay strata can suffer significant settlement or stability problems under building loads. Among the methods proposed to strengthen weak soils is the application of a stone masonry trench (SMT) beneath RC strip foundations (as a masonry pad-stone). Although, SMTs are frequently employed in engineering practice; however, the effectiveness of SMTs on the ultimate bearing capacity improvement of a strip footing rested on a weak clay stratum has not been investigated quantitatively, yet. Therefore, the expected increase of bearing capacity of strip footings reinforced with SMTs is of interest and needs to be evaluated. This study presents a two-dimensional numerical model using the discrete element method (DEM) to capture the ultimate load-bearing capacity of a strip footing on a soft clay reinforced with a SMT. The developed DEM model was then used to perform a parametric study to investigate the effects of SMT geometry and properties on the footing bearing capacity with and without the presence of surcharge. The dimensions of the SMTs were varied to determine the optimum trench relative depth. The study showed that inclusion of a SMT of optimum dimension in a soft clay can improve the bearing capacity of a strip footing up to a factor of 3.5.

• Proceeding of KASS Symposium
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• 2008.05a
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• pp.70-73
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• 2008

Because the inclination and crack of stone pagoda structure are caused by the depth difference of soft soil ground and ground subsidence in weak zone, a long-term conservation of stone pagoda structure is difficult. But it is insufficient to analyze the behavior of stone pagoda structure considering soft soil ground in our country. Therefore, we find the structural effect happening in stone pagoda structure by analyzing mechanically a specific of soft soil ground and carry out structural analysis and structural modelling of stone pagoda structure that considers soft soil ground by discrete element method.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.639-655
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• 2016

The effect of particle breakage and intermediate principal stress ratio on the behaviour of crushable granular assemblies under true triaxial stress conditions is studied using the discrete element method. Numerical results show that the increase of intermediate principal stress ratio $b(b=({\sigma}_2-{\sigma}_3)/({\sigma}_1-{\sigma}_3))$ results in the increase of dilatancy at low confining pressures but the decrease of dilatancy at high confining pressures, which stems from the distinct increasing compaction caused by breakage with b. The influence of b on the evolution of the peak apparent friction angle is also weakened by particle breakage. For low relative breakage, the relationship between the peak apparent friction angle and b is close to the Lade-Duncan failure model, whereas it conforms to the Matsuoka-Nakai failure model for high relative breakage. In addition, the increasing tendency of relative breakage, calculated based on a fractal particle size distribution with the fractal dimension being 2.5, declines with the increasing confining pressure and axial strain, which implies the existence of an ultimate graduation. Finally, the relationship between particle breakage and plastic work is found to conform to a unique hyperbolic correlation regardless of the test conditions.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.22 no.8
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• pp.509-514
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• 2010

A numerical simulation of passenger evacuation in a subway station was performed by coupling the passenger flow analysis and the fire simulation. The algorithm of the passenger flow analysis was based on a DEM (Discrete Element Method) using the potential map of the direction vector for each passenger. This algorithm was improved in the present study as to use finer grid smaller than a passenger in order to resolve detailed geometry of the station and to resolve the behavior of passengers in the bottleneck at the ticket gate considering the collision of passengers to a wall or with other passengers. In the fire simulation, the CO distribution predicted by using CFD was used to take into account the effect of toxic gases on the passengers' mobility. The methodology proposed in the present study could be used in designing safer subway station in case of fire occurrence.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.300-304
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• 2020

In this paper, a durability study is presented to enhance the mechanical properties of an Fe-Si-Al powder-based magnetic core, through the addition of graphite. The compressive properties of Fe-Si-Al-graphite powder mixtures are explored using discrete element method (DEM), and a powder compaction experiment is performed under identical conditions to verify the reliability of the DEM analysis. Important parameters for powder compaction of Fe-Si-Al-graphite powder mixtures are identified. The compressibility of the powders is observed to increase as the amount of graphite mixture increases and as the size of the graphite powders decreases. In addition, the compaction properties of the Fe-Si-Al-graphite powder mixtures are further explored by analyzing the transmissibility of stress between the top and bottom punches as well as the distribution of the compressive force. The application of graphite powders is confirmed to result in improved stress transmission and compressive force distribution, by 24% and 51%, respectively.