th

The 12 International Conference of

International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics (IACMAG)
1-6 October, 2008
Goa, India

Particle-Based Discrete Element Modelling: A Geomechanics

Overview

C. OSullivan
Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK

Keywords: discrete element modeling, granular soil

ABSTRACT: Discrete element modelling (DEM) is an approach for the analysis of granular material response that
explicitly considers the interaction between individual particles. With increasing computational speeds, the use of
particle-based DEM is becoming more widespread amongst geotechnical engineers in both research and
practice. This paper provides a brief overview of the theoretical basis for discrete element modelling. The
practicalities of carrying out discrete element analyses are addressed, specifically considering boundary
conditions, the risks associated with numerical instability, and some useful approaches that can be used to post-
process the vast quantities of data that emerge from DEM simulations. The limitations of our current DEM
modelling capabilities are outlined and the likely trends for development of DEM codes in the near future are
considered. The benefits of discrete element analyses to geotechnical engineers interested in the micro-
mechanics of soil response are demonstrated by considering the results of simulations of both quasi-static soil
mechanics element tests in two and three dimensions.

1 Introduction
The response of soil to applied loads and deformations is highly complex and this complexity arises, at least
partially, because soil is a particulate material. Typically in geotechnical engineering we model soil as a
continuum, using the finite element or finite difference method in conjunction with a suitable constitutive model.
Discrete element modelling (DEM)is an alternative numerical method to simulate and analyse soil response.
There are two main reasons why a geotechnical engineer might chose to use DEM:

1. To gain insight into the particle-scale interactions that underlie the complexities of soil response at a
macro-scale. Using DEM the evolution of the inter-particle forces, displacement of individual particles
and particle rotations can easily be monitored. These measurements are intractable experimentally.

2. To simulate problems involving large, localized deformations. For example, the evolution of a shear
band or the deformations around the tip of a pile can easily be simulated using DEM.

It should be appreciated that soil is a granular material and granular materials are of interest across a wide range
of disciplines including physics, chemical engineering, geology and geotechnical engineering. Consequently, the
use of discrete element modelling extends beyond the geotechnical community. The objective of this paper is to
provide a brief overview of DEM from a numerical / theoretical perspective, to introduce some of the challenges
associated with DEM simulations and to present some results illustrating the benefits of DEM analyses from a
geomechanics perspective.

2 Discrete Element Modelling: General Principles

There are two main categories of DEM currently in use in geotechnical research and practise. In the first type of
DEM simulation we consider the interaction of very large numbers of rigid bodies, while in the second type of
model the interaction of a relatively smaller number of simply deformable bodies is considered. The current paper
restricts consideration to the first type of DEM model, i.e. to particulate DEM models, following the algorithm
proposed by Cundall and Strack (1979).

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2.1 General Principles
The basic principle of DEM can be appreciated with reference to Figure 1(a). Initially the user specifies the
geometry of the system to be analyzed, including the particle coordinates and boundary conditions, as well as the
contact model parameters. Then the simulation progresses as a transient, or dynamic, analysis, typically for a
specified number of time increments. At each time step the contacting particles are identified, typically a binning
algorithm is used. Referring to Figure 1(b) each particle is mapped to a cell in a grid and the distance between
that particle and particles in the current cell and the adjacent 9 cells (2D) or 26 cells (3D) is determined. As
outlined below the magnitude of the inter-particle forces relate to the distance between contacting particles.
Having calculated these inter particle-forces the resultant force acting on each particle can be determined.
Knowing the particle inertia the translational and rotational accelerations of the particles can be calculated, and
the displacement and rotation of the particles over the current time-step is found through simple central
difference integration. Using these incremental displacements and rotations, the particle positions are updated, in
the next time step the contact forces are then calculated using this updated geometry.

t=0: Input
Define system geometry
and
contact model
Cell 2 Cell 3 Cell 4

time t: Calculate
Identify contacting particles
Cell 9 Cell 1 Cell 5
+
Calculate contact forces

Cell 8 Cell 7 Cell 6

Revise boundary positions as required

time t: Calculate
Move forward one step (t) in time

Calculate resultant force acting

on each particle,
include body forces,
external forces (b)

time t: Calculate

Calculate particle accelerations

and
Integrate to determine velocities

time t: Calculate

Calculate particle displacements

and rotations
in current time increment
+
Update particle positions

(c)
(a)

Figure 1. DEM modeling principles.

2.2 Modelling Assumptions: Particles

The basic idea in particulate based discrete element modeling, as originally proposed by Cundall and Strack
(1979), is to model a granular material as an assembly of rigid particles. These particles are allowed to overlap at
the contact points, and this overlap is analogous to the deformation that occurs at the contact between real two
physical bodies. To facilitate contact detection and calculation of the inter-particle forces, it must be possible to
analytically describe the particle geometry. The simplest particle geometry to consider is a disk (2D) or a sphere

499
(3D) (Figure 2(a)). Real soil particles are however non-spherical. Figure 2(b) (c) illustrates some approaches
that have been taken to model non-spherical particles DEM. Ng (2004) used of axi-symmetric spheroids
(ellipsoids) in his study of soil response (Figure 2(b)). It is important to note, however, that where ellipsoidal
particles are used, a non-linear equation must be solved at every contact point, at every time step, to calculate
the overlap for input in to the contact model. Consequently, DEM simulations involving ellipsoids are
computationally more expensive than DEM simulations using spherical particles. A second approach proposed
by Favier et al (1999) and OSullivan and Bray (2002) is to use clusters of overlapping spheres (Figure 2(b)).
Cheng et al (2004) modeled soil grains as agglomerates of spheres with contact bonds that can transmit tensile
forces between the contacting spheres. These particles are non-spherical and they can also experience damage
or crushing.

(a) (b) (c) (d)

Figure 2. DEM particle types.

2.3 Modelling Assumptions: Contact

As noted above, compressive inter-particle contact forces are calculated by considering the overlap between two
contacting particles, while tensile inter-particle forces are calculated by considering the particle separation. In
both cases a rheological model is inserted at this contact point to calculate the inter-particle contact forces. As
illustrated in Figure 1 the rheological model is relatively simple, comprising orthogonal springs with sliders, in
some cases viscous dashpots are also introduced. The springs can be linear elastic, non-linear elastic or elasto-
plastic. The slider in the contact normal direction is activated when the tensile strength of the contact is reached,
when this happens the contact is removed and the particles are allowed to separate. The slider in the tangential
direction allows the particles to move relative to each other when the contact frictional strength is exceeded
(calculated using Coulomb friction). Where tensile forces are allowed in the contact normal direction this is
analogous to cementation between the particles

3 Discrete Element Modelling: Practicalities

3.1 Boundary conditions

Figure 3 illustrates the different types of boundary conditions that are typically used in a DEM simulation. The
simplest boundary type is a rigid boundary (Figure 3(a)), these rigid boundaries are simply analytically described
surfaces and they can be planar or curved. These boundaries themselves have no inertia; the contact forces
determined at particle-boundary contact are used to update the particle coordinates only. Servo control
algorithms can be developed to control the internal stresses by moving these boundaries. Figure 3(b) is an
illustration of a periodic boundary. Periodic boundaries have been used in a number of geomechanics-related
publications, including Thornton(2000) or Ng (2004). Where periodic boundaries are used the granular material is
assumed to be infinite in extent. In the DEM simulation we then assume that the material can be represented by
repeated, identical representative elements. For each element then contact detection occurs between particles
along the left and right boundaries and particles along the top and bottom boundaries. A global strain field can be
applied to simulate strain controlled tests or stress controlled (servo controlled) tests. Cui et al (2007) proposed
extension of the periodic cell concept to axi-symmetric problems. In this case a pair of cicumferential periodic
boundaries is introduced, as illustrated in Figure 3(c), allowing an axisymmetric problem to be simulated by simply
considering a single slice. The final type of boundary condition of interest in geomechanics applications is a
stress contolled boundary. Where a stress controlled boundary is used particles along the outside of the
specimen are identified, and force is applied to each of these particles to achieve a specified stress condition.
These boundary conditions are useful for simulating triaxial tests and capturing the post-peak response. A three
dimensional illustration of a mixed boundary simulation, including use of a Voronoi diagram to calculate the forces
along a stress controlled boundary is illustrated in Figure 3(d). Details on the implementation of stress-controlled
boundaries in two dimensions are given by Thomas and Bray (1999), while Cui et al (2007) discuss the 3D
implementation.

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 Repeated
Structure

Cell
Analysed

(a) (b)

Image Particles

Circumferential
Periodic
Boundaries

(c) (d)

Figure 3. DEM Boundary Conditions.

3.2 Numerical stability

In a discrete element method either implicit or explicit numerical integration approaches can be used. An
example of an implicit discrete element approach is the method of discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA)
(Shi, 1988). DDA was applied to particulate systems by Ke and Bray (1995). A discussion on both implicit and
explicit discrete element approaches is provided by OSullivan (2002). Users should be aware that an explicit
DEM analysis is conditionally stable, consequently small time increments must be used in the analysis. OSullivan
and Bray (2003) includes a discussion on the issues associated with selecting a suitable time-step for stable DEM
analysis.

3.3 Interpretation of DEM Data

3.3.1 Local stresses

In a FEM analysis we think in terms of stress and strain. However in a DEM analysis the calculations are in terms
of force and displacement. In a DEM simulation can select an arbitrary region within our domain of grains and
calculate the average stress in this region. The average stress tensor ( ij ) within this region is given by
Nc
1
ij =
V
fl
i
i j (1)

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where Nc is the total number of contacts within the volume (V) considered, fi is the force vector for contact c, lj is
the branch vector for contact c, and V is the volume. The branch vector is the vector connecting the centroids of
the two particles contacting at contact c.

3.3.2 Local strains

In a DEM analysis we can pick two points in time and calculate the increment in strain between these two points
from the displacements of the particles. The simplest way to do this is to triangulate the system, with the vertices
of the triangles being the particle centroids and then to assume that the displacement gradient in each triangle is
linear. OSullivan et al (2003) proposed an alternative non-linear approach to calculating strain using wavelets,
and this has proven to be more effective at capturing localizations in three dimensions.

3.3.3 Fabric

1 Nc
ij = ni n j
Nc i
(2)

The fabric tensor is a 2 x 2 matrix in two dimensions and a 3 x 3 matrix in three dimensions. Considering the
stress tensor, the magnitude and orientation of the principal stresses can be calculated by determining the
eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the stress tensor. Similarly the principal values of fabric ( 1 and 3 ) and
their orientation can be calculated by considering the eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the fabric tensor. The
orientation of the major principal fabric 1 is a measure of the average orientation of the dominant fabric in the
material, and the difference in fabric 1 - 3 gives a measure of anisotropy.

3.4 Validation and calibration of Discrete Element Codes

As proposed by Cundall (2000), amongst others, one approach to using DEM in geotechnical engineering is to
calibrate DEM results (using idealized particle geometries) against the results of laboratory tests on real soils. In
this calibration approach, the rheological model parameters are varied until the macro-scale response observed
in the DEM model matches the field response. Examples of such an approach to calibration include Barla and
Barla (2005) and Dolezalova et al (2002). The use of DEM in this manner should be approached with caution.
Analysts should consider, for their application, whether it is valid to vary the inter-particle coefficient of friction
between the DEM particles to compensate for the differences in geometry between a real soil particle and a
sphere. Friction inhibits sliding. The non-spherical, non-convex nature of real soil particles will result in multiple
contact points between two contacting soil particles. Consequently, there will be effective transmission of
moment between the particles, and rotations will be inhibited. Whereas the macro-scale responses may be
similar, the particle-scale interactions of non-spherical particles will differ from the particle-scale interactions
between highly frictional, spherical particles. Care should also be taken when using two-dimensional particles to
represent real soil grains. A real soil will develop contacts in the out of plane direction, consequently the micro-
mechanics will be different. There is merit in carrying out two-dimensional DEM simulations where mechanisms
can be more easily visualized, however assemblies of two-dimensional DEM particles must be considered as
analogue soils.

4 Discrete Element Modelling: Limitations

While discrete element methods are powerful tools for numerical analysis in geomechanics, it is important to
appreciate their limitations. It can be argued that when granular materials are considered to be packed
assemblies of particles, the mechanical interaction between particles is simple, and the material constants have
explicit meanings, in contrast with the complexity associated with continuum modeling. However, the process of
modeling grain geometry and detecting contact between particles is highly complex. In addition, development of
accurate contact constitutive models for use in discrete element analysis is non-trivial, e.g. Thornton and Lanier
(1997). The effective stress in a soil will govern its response and including pore water pressures in a discrete
element framework is non-trivial.

A central limitation of discrete element modeling is the difficulty associated with modeling the large number of
particles that exist within soil volumes large enough to be of practical interest to engineers. For example, consider
a cylindrical specimen 38mm in diameter and 75mm high to be tested in a triaxial apparatus. If this specimen
were filled with uniform 0.5mm spherical particles at a void ratio of 0.585 it would contain almost 0.5 million
particles. A real soil specimen, with a distribution of particle sizes would contain many more particles than this.

Recent advances in micro X-ray tomography allow us to visualize the internal three-dimensional structure of real
soil (e.g. Oda et al., 2004) and particle image velocimetry technology (e.g. White et al., 2003) can give two-
dimensional information about the movement of soil particles during shearing. It is important to realize however

502
that these methods cannot provide us with the detailed information about the distribution and evolution of the
contact forces and internal stresses available in a DEM analysis.

5 Discrete Element Modelling: Geomechanics Applications

5.1 Micromechanics of Soil Response in the Direct Shear Apparatus

Recognizing the ability of DEM to analyze finite displacement problems, Cui and OSullivan (2006) carried out a
series of simulations of direct shear tests. These simulations were coupled with a complementary series of
physical direct shear tests. A summary of the results of this study are illustrated in Figure 4. Figure 4(a) and
(c) present the results of the physical simulations, while the macro-scale numerical simulation results are
presented in Figure 4(b) and (d). The success in matching the physical test results can be appreciated by
comparing Figures 4(a) and (b) and Figures 4(c) and (d), indicating that the DEM simulation could capture the
real material response both in terms of the mobilized stresses and the volumetric strains relatively accurately.

The power of DEM can be appreciated by reference to Figures 4(e) and (f). Figure 4(e) illustrates the variation in
the peak angle of friction mobilized in the direct shear apparatus as a function of the inter-particle friction angle.
Such parametric studies, involving a systematic variation in the particle properties allow us to develop our
understanding of the relationship between the particle characteristics and the overall material response. Other
recent useful parametric studies have considered the influence of particle strength on the overall response (e.g.
Cheng et al, 2004) or the influence of particle geometry on material response (e.g. Powrie et al, 2005). Figure
4(f) presents some representative micro-mechanical analyses that can easily be carried out using DEM. The
variation of both the deviator fabric ( 1 - 3 ) and the coordination number, as a function of the global shear
strain are illustrated. Referring to the data presented in Figure 4(b) it is clear that maximum the fabric anisotropy
occurs when the peak stress is mobilized. There is also a definite relationship between the coordination number
and the specimen dilation, with the number of contacts in the specimen decreasing as the specimen dilates
during shearing.

5.2 Material Response in the Triaxial Apparatus

A second study that involved the coupling of DEM simulations and physical element tests considered the triaxial
apparatus and was discussed in detail by Cui et al (2007). DEM simulations of triaxial tests on specimens of
steel spheres were used to validate the use of circumferential periodic boundaries to simulate axi-symmetric
problems (this concept is discussed above and presented in Figure 3(a)). The validation data are presented in
Figure 5(a), and an excellent correlation was obtained between the simulation results and the physical test data.
This study also explored the use of DEM simulations to analyse non-uniformities in physical test data. As
illustrated in Figure 5(b) three zones were selected within the numerical specimen. The average stresses within
each of these zones was calculated using Equation (1) above. There was a variation in the calculated stress ratio
when comparing the three zones considered and the overall response as calculated using boundary
measurements (Figure 5(c)).

6 Conclusions
This paper has presented a concise overview of the discrete element method, highlighting the main steps
involved in a DEM simulation. The challenges associated with processing the large amounts of data that can be
obtained from DEM analyses have been highlighted. The limitations and challenges posed to developers of DEM
codes and software have also been mentioned. Some results illustrating validation studies to demonstrate the
reliability of DEM simulations were presented. DEM simulations can insight into the micro-mechanisms driving
the overall material response and they can also be used to study the internal stress and strain distributions in
conventional element tests.

7 Acknowledgements
Funding for the triaxial test and direct shear test studies presented here was provided by IRCSET, the Irish
Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology.

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 a b

c d

e f

Figure 4. DEM analysis of response in the direct shear apparatus, Cui and OSullivan (2005).

504
 (a) (b) (c)

Figure 5. DEM analysis of response in the triaxial apparatus, Cui et al (2007).

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