Coupled Peridynamics and DEM with Unstructured Grid for Evaluating the Effect of Particle Morphology on Fracture Behavior

Abstract The aim of this study was to develop a 3-D numerical technique, which combines peridynamics (PD) and the discrete element method (DEM), to handle both the fracture and post-fracture behavior of granular aggregates. In particular, the inclusion of an unstructured grid into the coupled PD-DEM framework [1] to represent complex morphology of the aggregate was thoroughly studied. The accuracy of the unstructured grid model was first verified through a simulation of indirect tensile tests on a cylindrical specimen. Then, structured and unstructured grid models were compared by fracturing a single particle with complex morphology. The obtained results were used to summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the unstructured grid model in assessing the fracture behavior influenced by realistic particle morphology.