Work

DEM modelling of highly porous soft rocks

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: A novel bond damage model is proposed to better replicate the behaviour of highly porous soft-rocks. The contact model employs an exponential damage law to describe the permanent deformation developing at the microscale. To i) reach a high porosity initial state, ii) reproduce complex contact configuration of irregular grains and iii) consider the physical existence of fractured bond fragments, a far-field interaction is introduced in this model, enabling non-overlapping particles to transmit forces. The model performance is validated by replicating the behaviour of Maastricht calcarenite. Finally, a 3D coupled DEM (Discrete Element Method) - FDM (Finite Difference Method) modelling is employed to simulate the penetration of a cone-end shaped pile in calcarenite. The good agreement between the experimental and numerical results suggests that the proposed model has the potential to reveal microscopic mechanism of soft-rock / structure interaction.

Source: IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science

DOI: 10.1088/1755-1315/1480/1/012057

Authors: Jinhui Zheng, Marco Previtali, Matteo Ciantia, Jonathan Knappett

Institutions: University of Dundee, University of Milano-Bicocca

Language: English

Topic: Rock Mechanics and Modeling

Subfield: Mechanics of Materials

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: diamond

Funders: China Scholarship Council, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council

Award: ICE-PICK: Installation effects on cyclic axial and lateral performance of displacement piles in chalk