Discrete Element Modeling of Asphalt Concrete: Microfabric Approach

2001 ◽  
Vol 1757 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
William G. Buttlar ◽  
Zhanping You
Keyword(s):  
Asphalt Concrete ◽  
Discrete Element ◽  
Discrete Element Modeling ◽  
Element Modeling

Application of Discrete Element Modeling Techniques to Predict the Complex Modulus of Asphalt–Aggregate Hollow Cylinders Subjected to Internal Pressure

2005 ◽  
Vol 1929 (1) ◽  
pp. 218-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhanping You ◽  
William G. Buttlar
Keyword(s):  
Internal Pressure ◽  
Hollow Cylinder ◽  
Asphalt Concrete ◽  
Complex Modulus ◽  
Discrete Element ◽  
Coarse Grained ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Discrete Element Modeling ◽  
Discrete Elements ◽  
Element Modeling

An extension of the discrete element modeling (DEM) approach, or clustered DEM, was used to simulate the hollow cylinder tensile (HCT) test, in which various material phases (e.g., aggregates, mastic) are modeled with bonded clusters of discrete elements. The basic principle of the HCT test is the application of internal pressure to the inner cavity of a hollow cylinder specimen, which produces circumferential strain. In the present study an experimental program was conducted to measure the complex modulus of asphalt concrete mixtures at various loading rates and temperatures. The HCT test was then modeled with a two-dimensional, linear elastic DEM simulation. The current approach uses the correspondence principle to bridge between the elastic simulation and viscoelastic response. The two-dimensional morphology of the asphalt concrete mixture was captured with a high-resolution scanner, enhanced with image-processing techniques, and reconstructed into an assembly of discrete elements. The mixture complex moduli predicted in the HCT simulations were found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements across a range of test temperatures and loading frequencies for the coarse-grained mixtures investigated. Ongoing work in the area of viscoelastic constitutive modeling, fracture modeling, and three-dimensional tomography and modeling will extend the capabilities of this promising technique for fundamental studies of asphalt concrete and other particulate composites.

scholarly journals An Energy-Based Discrete Element Modeling Method Coupled with Time-Series Analysis for Investigating Deformations and Failures of Jointed Rock Slopes

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 5447
Author(s):  
Xiaona Zhang ◽  
Gang Mei ◽  
Ning Xi ◽  
Ziyang Liu ◽  
Ruoshen Lin
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Iterative Process ◽  
Discrete Element ◽  
Jointed Rock ◽  
Modeling Method ◽  
Discrete Element Modeling ◽  
Rock Slopes ◽  
Sliding Surface ◽  
Element Modeling ◽  
Displacement Based

The discrete element method (DEM) can be effectively used in investigations of the deformations and failures of jointed rock slopes. However, when to appropriately terminate the DEM iterative process is not clear. Recently, a displacement-based discrete element modeling method for jointed rock slopes was proposed to determine when the DEM iterative process is terminated, and it considers displacements that come from rock blocks located near the potential sliding surface that needs to be determined before the DEM modeling. In this paper, an energy-based discrete element modeling method combined with time-series analysis is proposed to investigate the deformations and failures of jointed rock slopes. The proposed method defines an energy-based criterion to determine when to terminate the DEM iterative process in analyzing the deformations and failures of jointed rock slopes. The novelty of the proposed energy-based method is that, it is more applicable than the displacement-based method because it does not need to determine the position of the potential sliding surface before DEM modeling. The proposed energy-based method is a generalized form of the displacement-based discrete element modeling method, and the proposed method considers not only the displacement of each block but also the weight of each block. Moreover, the computational cost of the proposed method is approximately the same as that of the displacement-based discrete element modeling method. To validate that the proposed energy-based method is effective, the proposed method is used to analyze a simple jointed rock slope; the result is compared to that achieved by using the displacement-based method, and the comparative results are basically consistent. The proposed energy-based method can be commonly used to analyze the deformations and failures of general rock slopes where it is difficult to determine the obvious potential sliding surface.

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