A modified bond model for describing isotropic linear elastic material behaviour with the discrete element method

Abstract

AbstractRecently, the discrete element method is increasingly being used for describing the behaviour of isotropic linear elastic materials. However, the common bond models employed to describe the interaction between particles restrict the range of Poisson’s ratio that can be represented. In this paper, to overcome the restriction, a modified bond model that includes the coupling of shear strain energy of neighbouring bonds is proposed. The coupling is described by a multi-bond term that enables the model to distinguish between shear deformations and rigid-body rotations. The positive definiteness of the strain energy function of the modified bond model is verified. To validate the model, uniaxial tension, pure shear and pure bending tests are performed. Comparison of the particle displacements with continuum mechanics solution demonstrates the ability of the model to describe the behaviour of isotropic linear elastic material for values of Poisson’s ratio in the range $$0 \le \nu < 0.5$$ 0 ≤ ν < 0.5 .