• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.1029-1044
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• 2017

The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is one of the useful numerical methods to analyze the behavior of the ground formation by computing the motion and interaction using particles. The DEM has not been applied in civil engineering but also a wide range of industrial fields, such as chemical engineering, pharmacy, material science, food engineering, etc. In this study, to review a performance of the spoke-type earth pressure balance (EPB) shield TBM (Tunnel Boring Machine), the commercial software based on the DEM technology was used. An analysis of the TBM during excavation was conducted according to two pre-defined excavation conditions with the different rotation speed of a cutterhead. During the analysis, the resistant torque at the face of the cutterhead, the compressive force at the cutterhead and shield surface, the muck discharge at the screw auger were measured and compared. Upon the two kinds of excavation conditions, the applicability of the DEM analysis was reviewed as a modelling method for the TBM.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.313-330
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• 2021

In this study, the dynamic interaction between an Arctic Spar and drifting level ice is examined in time domain using the newly developed ice-hull-mooring coupled dynamics program. The in-house program, CHARM3D, which is the hull-riser-mooring coupled dynamic simulator is extended by coupling with the open-source discrete element method (DEM) simulator, LIGGGHTS. In the LIGGGHTS module, the parallel-bonding method is implemented to model the level ice using an assembly of multiple bonded spherical particles. As a case study, a spread-moored Artic Spar platform, whose hull surface near waterline is the inverted conical shape, is chosen. To determine the breaking-related DEM parameter (the critical bonding strength), the four-point numerical bending test is used. A series of numerical simulations is systematically performed under the various ice conditions including ice drift velocity, flexural strength, and thickness. Then, the effects of these parameters on the ice force, platform motions, and mooring tensions are discussed. The simulations reveal various features of dynamic interactions between the drifting ice and moored platform for various ice conditions including the novel synchronous resonance at low ice speed. The newly developed simulator is promising and can repeatedly be used for the future design and analysis including ice-floater-mooring coupled dynamics.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.187-192
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• 2020

To reduce fuel consumption by reducing the weight of the deck of a dump truck and to design an eco-friendly deck, accurate structural analysis is required. To date, the load on the deck has been calculated based on the hydrostatic pressure or by applying the earth pressure theory. However, these methods cannot be used to determine the non-uniformity of the load on the deck. Load distribution varies depending on the size distribution and interaction of aggregate particles. Compared with the finite element method, the discrete element method can simulate the behavior of aggregate particles more effectively. In this study, major properties were obtained by measuring bulk density and repose. The deck of a 15 ton dump truck was simulated using the obtained properties and bumping, breaking, and turning load conditions were applied. EDEM, which is a discrete element analysis software, was employed. The stress and strain distribution of the deck were calculated by NASTRAN and compared with the measured values. The study revealed that the results derived from a DEM simulation were more accurate than those based on mathematical assumption.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.5
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• pp.475-486
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• 2023

Ballast particles have an irregular shape and are discrete in nature. Due to the discrete nature of ballast, it exhibits complex mechanical behaviour under loading conditions. The discrete element method (DEM) can model the behaviour of discrete particles under a multitude of loading conditions. DEM is used in this paper to simulate a series of three-dimensional direct shear tests in order to investigate the shear behaviour of railway ballast and its interaction at the microscopic level. Particle flow code in three dimension (PFC3D) models the irregular shape of ballast particles as clump particles. To investigate the influence of particle size distribution (PSD), real PSD of Indian railway ballast specification IRS:GE:1:2004, China high-speed rail (HSR) and French rail specifications are generated. PFC3D built-in linear contact model is used to simulate the interaction of ballast particles under various normal stresses, shearing rate and shear box sizes. The results indicate how shear resistance and volumetric changes in ballast assembly are affected by normal stress, shearing rate, PSD and shear box size. In addition to macroscopic behaviour, DEM represents the microscopic behaviour of ballast particles in the form of particle displacement at different stages of the shearing process.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.3197-3202
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• 2007

An analysis program for pedestrian flow has been developed to investigate the flow patterns of passenger in railway stations. Analysis algorithms for pedestrian flow based on DEM(Discrete Element Method) are newly developed. There are lots of similarity between particle-laden two phase flow and passenger flow. The velocity component of 1st phase corresponds to the unit vector of calculation cell, each particle to passenger, volume fraction to population density and the particle velocity to the walking velocity, etc. And, the walking velocity of passenger is also represented by the function of population density. Key algorithms are developed to determine the position of passenger, population density and numbering to each passenger. By using the developed program, we compared the simulation results of the effects of the location and size of exit and elapsed time.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.161-176
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• 2010

Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations were developed to investigate the effectiveness of geosynthetic reinforcement and the effectiveness of maintenance techniques performed on a simulated ballast bed subjected to dynamic loading. The results from four samples subjected each one to a total of 425 load cycles are presented: one unreinforced and unmaintained sample, one unmaintained but reinforced sample, one unreinforced sample subjected to maintenance in the form of stoneblowing after 200 load cycles, and one unreinforced sample subjected to maintenance in the form of tamping after 200 load cycles. The obtained values of permanent deformation as a function of the applied number of load cycles for the four cases are presented together allowing a comparison of the effectiveness of each technique. Moreover, snapshots of the simulated track sections are presented at different moments of the simulations. The simulations indicated that the geosynthetic reinforcement may not be beneficial for the analyzed case while stoneblowing was the most effective maintenance technique.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2008.06a
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• pp.761-762
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• 2008

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.459-460
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• 2009

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.21-30
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• 2014

PURPOSES : Evaluation of input parameters determination procedure for dynamic analysis of aggregates in DEM. METHODS : In this research, the aggregate slump test and angularity test were performed as fundamental laboratory tests to determine input parameters of spherical particles in DEM. The heights spreads, weights of the simple tests were measured and used to calibrate rolling and static friction coefficients of particles. RESULTS : The DEM simulations with calibrated parameters showed good agreement with the laboratory test results for given dynamic condition. CONCLUSIONS : It is concluded that the employed calibration method can be applicable to determine rolling friction coefficient of DEM simulation for given dynamic conditions. However, further research is necessary to connect the result to the behavior of aggregate in packing and mixing process and to refine static friction coefficient.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.189-206
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• 2020

The accurate modeling of boundary conditions is important in simulations of the discrete element method (DEM) and can affect the numerical results significantly. In conventional triaxial compression (CTC) tests, the specimens are wrapped by flexible membranes allowing to deform freely. To accurately model the boundary conditions of CTC, new flexible boundary algorithms for 2D and 3D DEM simulations are proposed. The new algorithms are computationally efficient and easy to implement. Moreover, both horizontal and vertical component of confining pressure are considered in the 2D and 3D algorithms, which can ensure that the directions of confining pressure are always perpendicular to the specimen surfaces. Furthermore, the boundaries are continuous and closed in the new algorithms, which can prevent the escape of particles from the specimens. The effectiveness of the proposed algorithms is validated by biaxial and triaxial simulations of granular materials. The results show that the algorithms allow the boundaries to deform non-uniformly on the premise of maintaining high control accuracy of confining pressure. Meanwhile, the influences of different lateral boundary conditions on the numerical results are discussed. It is indicated that the flexible boundary is more appropriate for the models with large strain or significant localization than rigid boundary.