Abstract
Micromechanical modeling of geomaterials is challenging because of the complex geometry of discontinuities and potentially large number of deformable material bodies that contact each other dynamically. In this study, we have developed a numerical approach for micromechanical analysis of deformable geomaterials with dynamic contacts. In our approach, we detect contacts among multiple blocks with arbitrary shapes, enforce different contact constraints for three different contact states of separated, bonded, and sliding, and iterate within each time step to ensure convergence of contact states. With these features, we are able to simulate the dynamic contact evolution at the microscale for realistic geomaterials having arbitrary shapes of grains and interfaces. We demonstrate the capability with several examples, including a rough fracture with different geometric surface asperity characteristics, settling of clay aggregates, compaction of a loosely packed sand, and failure of an intact marble sample. With our model, we are able to accurately analyze (1) large displacements and/or deformation, (2) the process of high stress accumulated at contact areas, (3) the failure of a mineral cemented rock samples under high stress, and (4) post-failure fragmentation. The analysis highlights the importance of accurately capturing (1) the sequential evolution of geomaterials responding to stress as motion, deformation, and high stress; (2) large geometric features outside the norms (such as large asperities and sharp corners) as such features can dominate the micromechanical behavior; and (3) different mechanical behavior between loosely packed and tightly packed granular systems.
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Acknowledgments
Editorial review by Dr. Carl Steefel at Berkeley Lab is greatly appreciated.
Funding
This research was supported by the US Department of Energy (DOE), including the Office of Basic Energy Sciences, Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division and the Office of Nuclear Energy, Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition Campaign, both under Contract No. DE-AC02-05CH11231 with Berkeley Lab. Additional support was from Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) funding from Berkeley Lab.
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Hu, M., Rutqvist, J. Microscale mechanical modeling of deformable geomaterials with dynamic contacts based on the numerical manifold method. Comput Geosci 24, 1783–1797 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-020-09992-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10596-020-09992-z