Discrete element simulation of the breakage behavior of porous granules utilizing bond models

Abstract

In the development of ships, the aspect of collision safety plays a major role. In this paper, the approach to improve the crashworthiness of ships is to fill the already existing double hull with a granular material. For this purpose, the material used is to be investigated numerically. A discrete element approach is applied for this in the paper presented. Since the breakage behavior of the particles is of particular interest, the discrete element method is used together with a bonded particle method. This approach is extended by a model which is able to take into account the micro-cracks occurring in the material and the energy dissipation caused by them. Using this and other models of the bonded particle method, simulations are carried out and compared with corresponding experiments. A particular focus is on uniaxial compression tests with single particles and particle systems. The single-particle tests are used to determine various simulation parameters relevant to individual particles in terms of geometry and material. In addition, the multi-particle tests provide insight into the behavior of several particles, their interaction and dynamics. These simulations can be used to test the extent to which it is possible to represent porous particles and their fracture behavior by numerical means.