2011 Volume 67 Issue 1 Pages 105-112
A simple model for the Discrete Element Method (DEM) with fewer parameters is proposed so that boundary value problems in geotechnical engineering can be studied. The interparticle contact bond model, which reproduces the behavior of cohesive geomaterials, and the rolling friction model, which expresses the interlocking effect of grain shapes with circular particles, are introduced into the conventional contact model for the two-dimensional DEM. Both of these models require only one parameter. Parametric analyses, based on several direct shear tests, are performed to validate the proposed model and to obtain relationships between the DEM parameters and the failure criteria for geomaterials by means of c and ϕ
