Effect of DEM inter-particle parameters on uniaxial loading modeling results

We present a 2D DEM-based model with bonded particles to simulate the uniaxial loading of a porous material. In this paper, we focus on the numerical study of the model parameters at the microscale (normal and tangential stiffnesses of the bonds, bond length, and friction coefficient) influence on the Young modulus and compressive strength of the modeled material. Young’s modulus exhibits linear dependence on the normal stiffness, whereas its dependence on the other parameters is more complex and hard to characterize. We illustrate that compressive strength depends linearly on the normal and tangential stiffness as well as on the bond length but it relates quadratically to the friction coefficient. Additionally, we illustrate that the model is scalable and that Young’s modulus and compressive strength do not depend on the particle size. The provided study allows the construction DEM-based model of porous material with prescribed properties to perform a simulation of uniaxial and triaxial loading of complex heterogeneous materials.