An optimization-based discrete element model for dry granular flows: Application to granular collapse on erodible beds

Abstract

Erosion processes and the associated static/flowing transition in granular flows are still poorly understood despite their crucial role in natural hazards such as landslides and debris flows. Continuum models do not yet adequately reproduce the observed increase of runout distance of granular flows on erodible beds or the development of waves at the bed/flow interface. Discrete Element Methods, which simulate each grain's motion and their complex interactions, provide a unique tool to investigate these processes numerically. Among them, Convex Methods (CM), resulting from the convexification of Contact Dynamics methods, benefit from a robust theoretical framework, ensuring the convergence of the numerical solution at every time iteration. They are also intrinsically more stable than classical Molecular Dynamics methods. However, although already implemented in engineering fields, CMs have not yet been tested in the framework of flows on erodible beds. We present here a Convex Optimization Contact Dynamics (COCD) method and prove that it generates a numerical solution verifying Coulomb's law at each contact and iteration. After its calibration and validation with experiments and another widely used Contact Dynamics method, we show that our simulations accurately reproduce qualitative and even many quantitative characteristics of experimental granular flows on erodible beds, including the increase of runout distance with the thickness of the erodible bed, the change of the static/flowing interface and the presence of erosion waves behind the flow front. Beyond erosion processes, our article endorses CMs as potential accurate tools for exploring complex granular mechanisms.