Abstract
In this paper, three-dimensional smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is applied to simulate granular flow past simple types of obstacles. SPH is a mesh-free Lagrangian method and it has the ability to deal with problems with large deformations. An elastic-perfectly plastic model with Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion is applied to simulate the soil, and it describes the stress states of soil in the plastic flow regime. The model was validated by simulating the collapse of the three-dimensional axisymmetric column of sand with two different aspect ratios. The results showed that the SPH method is able to simulate granular flow. A small-scale granular avalanche experiment with different types of obstacles was simulated. The computational results showed a good agreement with the experimental results and the model is considered to be a capable tool for simulating the granular flow phenomena.
