Calibration of rock Brazilian test using discrete element method in LS-DYNA

Abstract

Brazilian test which also known as indirect tensile test is widely used to evaluate the tensile strength of rock. Discrete element method (DEM) together with finite element method (FEM) approach was used to investigate numerically the response of granite material under Brazilian test for indirect measurement of tensile strength of rocks. The calibration analysis performed in this study using the commercial software LS-DYNA. It has been attempted to calibrate the micro-parameters in bonded particle model of granite rock for numerical modelling. In hybrid DEM-FEM simulation, the rock specimen was modelled in DEM while the steel plates were simulated using FEM. This numerical analysis is compared to experimental data of Brazilian test. It shows that the combination of numerical methods simulation could reproduce the trends of experimentally observed stress-strain curve of granite rock under tensile loading. Besides that, the hybrid DEM-FEM simulation also shows the same failure mode of granite specimen. Comparison between experimental data and numerical analyses is presented and discussed