Improvement of spheropolyhedral-based discrete element method and its application in fracture process of rock mass

In order to accurately simulate the evolution process of fractures, a three-dimensional deformable spheropolyhedral-based discrete element method is proposed by combining the finite element method with the spheropolyhedral-based discrete element method to simulate the complete fracture process. This method simulates the failure state of rock masses in real life, discretizing each rock particle into a finite element and embedding the zero thickness joint element along the boundary of the finite element. Finally by judging the state of the joint element, the cracks generated during the fracture process are captured, and the contact interaction between rock particles and fracture surfaces is resolved by the spheropolyhedral-based discrete element method. The accuracy and effectiveness of the new method are demonstrated through five numerical examples. The numerical results show that the proposed method is feasible in simulating the complete fracture process of quasi-brittle materials, and can capture crack initiation and propagation, as well as collision and deformation between fragments.