Novel discrete element method algorithm for modeling real particle shapes

Abstract

In this article, a novel three-dimensional (3D) discrete element method (DEM) algorithm is proposed for modeling real particle shapes. First, high-precision computed tomography (CT) is used to scan sand particles to obtain the 3D morphology of single-particle sand. Second, the background grid points and the 3D shape grid of the sand particles are generated along the x-axis. Finally, spherical particles are used to construct an overlapping model of real sand particles. The shapes of sand particles generated via this method are accurate, and their surface shape is close to that of real sand particles. The proposed method can also be used to generate structures of various sizes and shapes, thus simplifying the modeling process in DEM simulation. The numerical simulation results of free-falling sand particles show that the DEM model established by this method is effective in numerical simulation analysis.