DEM-Simulation of thin elastic membranes interacting with a granulate

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel, efficient DEM simulation method for modeling interactions between granular matter and flexible elastic membranes, using surface triangulation to improve computational performance.

Contribution

The paper presents a new simulation approach combining mass-spring models with surface triangulation, enabling efficient large-scale simulations of granular membranes.

Findings

Enhanced computational efficiency for large particle dispersions

Successful benchmarking with a triaxial test

Improved modeling of granular-membrane interactions

Abstract

For a wide range of applications, we need DEM simulations of granular matter in contact with flexible elastic boundaries. We present a novel method to describe the interaction between granular particles and a flexible elastic membrane. Here, the standard mass-spring model approach is supplemented by surface patches given by triangulation of the membrane. In contrast to standard mass-spring models, our simulation method allows for an efficient simulation even for large particle size dispersion. The novel method allows coarsening of the mass-spring system leading to a substantial increase in computation efficiency. The simulation method is demonstrated and benchmarked for a triaxial test.