ON the Numerical Discrete Modeling of a Boundary Value Problem Using an Adaptative Discretization Approach

Abstract An adaptative discretization approach is proposed to build numerical models of boundary value problems with the discrete element method (DEM). It roughly consists of discretizing a domain with small particles within an area of interest (where large displacements, strain localization, grain crushing, … may occur) and coarsening the particle size distribution away from it, while preserving the uniformity of mechanical properties as much as possible, thanks to a proper scaling of the parameters of the contact models. It presents the advantage of limiting the number of particles involved in the model and thus the computational cost. This approach is implemented and evaluated for the modeling of a Cone Penetration Test (CPT) in a calibration chamber.