A Staggered Asynchronous Step Integration Algorithm for Hybrid Finite-Element and Discrete-Element Modeling

Abstract

To reduce the computational time in the fields of dynamics, we introduce herein an efficient asynchronous step integration algorithm for a coupled finite-element–discrete-element method (FEM–DEM). Domain decomposition divides the whole model into an FEM subdomain and a DEM subdomain, where each subdomain selects the appropriate time step based on the element characteristics. The method of overlapping nodes and particles at the boundaries is adopted to handle the interface coupling problem, and the subcycling method is adopted to tackle the problem of transmission and matching of boundary data. Two numerical examples are presented to demonstrate the precision of the analysis and the overall efficiency. The algorithm provides the requisite calculation accuracy and significantly shortens the computer simulation. This approach further improves the efficiency of hybrid FEM–DEM modeling.