Effects of loading waveforms on rock damage using particle simulation method

The particle simulation method is used to study the effects of loading waveforms （i.e. square, sinusoidal and triangle waveforms） on rock damage at mesoscopic scale. Then some influencing factors on rock damage at the mesoscopic scale, such as loading frequency, stress amplitude, mean stress, confining pressure and loading sequence, are also investigated with sinusoidal waveform in detail. The related numerical results have demonstrated that： 1） the loading waveform has a certain effect on rock failure processes. The square waveform has the most damage within these waveforms, while the triangle waveform has less damage than sinusoidal waveform. In each cycle, the number of microscopic cracks increases in the loading stage, while it keeps nearly constant in the unloading stage. 2） The loading frequency, stress amplitude, mean stress, confining pressure and loading sequence have considerable effects on rock damage subjected to cyclic loading. The higher the loading frequency, stress amplitude and mean stress, the greater the damage the rock accumulated; in contrast, the lower the confining pressure, the greater the damage the rock has accumulated. 3） There is a threshold value of mean stress and stress amplitude, below which no further damage accumulated after the first few cycle loadings. 4） The high-to-low loading sequence has more damage than the low-to-high loading sequence, suggesting that the rock damage is loading-path dependent.

DEM simulation of particle flow on a single deck banana screen

A mathematical study of particle flow on a banana screen deck using the discrete element method (DEM) was presented in this paper. The motion characteristics and penetrating mechanisms of particles on the screen deck were studied. Effects of geometric parameters of screen deck on banana screening process were also investigated. The results show that when the values of inclination of discharge and increment of screen deck inclination are 10° and 5° respectively, the banana screening process get a good screening performance in the simulation. The relationship between screen deck length and screening efficiency was further confirmed. The conclusion that the screening efficiency will not significantly increase when the deck length L≥430 mm (L/B ≥ 3.5) was obtained, which can provide theoretical basis for the optimization of banana screen.

Potential application of particle based simulations in reservoir security management

In order to model the movement progress in case of risks such as dam collapse and coastal inundation, particle-based simulation methods, including the discrete-element method and smoothed particle hydrodynamics, which have specific advantages in modeling complex three-dimensional environmental fluid and particulate flows, are adopted as an effective way to illustrate environmental applications possibly happening in the real world. The theory of these methods and their relative advantages compared with traditional methods are discussed. Examples of 3-D flows on realistic topography including the flooding of a river valley as a result of a dam collapse and coastal inundation by a tsunami are introduced. Issues related to validation and quality data availability are also discussed. The results show that the simulations provide a valuable insight in a given situation for the security management of reservoir dams. Validation can only be performed where both the initial and final states can be very well characterized.

Thermo-mechanical coupled particle model for rock

A thermo-mechanical coupled particle model for simulation of thermally-induced rock damage based on the particle simulation method was proposed.The simulation results of three verification examples,for which the analytical solutions are available,demonstrate the correctness and usefulness of the thermo-mechanical coupled particle model.This model is applied to simulating an application example with two cases：one is temperature-independent elastic modulus and strength,while the other is temperature-dependent elastic modulus and strength.The related simulation results demonstrate that microscopic crack initiation and propagation process with consideration of temperature-independent and temperature-dependent elastic modulus and strength are different and therefore,the corresponding macroscopic failure patterns of rock are also different.On the contrary,considering the temperature-dependent elastic modulus and strength has no or little effect on the heating conduction behavior.Numerical results,which are obtained by using the proposed model with temperature-dependent elastic modulus and strength,agree well with the experimental results.This also reveals that the rock subjected to heating experiences much more cracking than the rock subjected to cooling.

Simulation of rock deformation and mechanical characteristics using clump parallel-bond models

To properly simulate hard rock with a high ratio of the uniaxial compressive strength to tensile strength(UCS/TS) and realistic strength-failure envelope,the rock deformation and mechanical characteristics were discussed in detail when the particle simulation method with the clump parallel-bond model(CPBM) was used to conduct a series of numerical experiments at the specimen scale.Meanwhile,the effects of the loading procedure and crack density on the mechanical behavior of a specimen,which was modeled by the particle simulation method with the CPBM,were investigated.The related numerical results have demonstrated that:1) The uniaxial compressive strength(UCS),tensile strength(TS) and elastic modulus are overestimated when the conventional loading procedure is used in the particle simulation method with the CPBM; 2) The elastic modulus,strength and UCS/TS decrease,while Poisson ratio increases with the increase of the crack density in the particle simulation method with the CPBM; 3) The particle simulation method with the CPBM can be used to reproduce a high value of UCS/TS(>10),as well as a high friction angle and reasonable cohesion strength; 4) As the confining pressure increases,both the peak strength of the simulated specimen and the number of microscopic cracks increase,but the ratio of tensile cracks number to shear cracks number decreases in the particle simulation method with the CPBM; 5) Compared with the conventional parallel-bond model,the CPBM can be used to reproduce more accurate results for simulating the rock deformation and mechanical characteristics.