A study of fragmentation processes using a discrete element method

TL;DR

This paper introduces a discrete element model for solids to simulate fragmentation, analyzing effects of explosions and impacts, and revealing power-law fragment size distributions under tensile breaking conditions.

Contribution

The study develops a polygonal cell-based discrete element model specifically designed for simulating fragmentation processes, including detailed analysis of fragment size distributions.

Findings

Fragment size distribution follows a power-law with an exponent around two.

Ejection of a layer occurs when breaking is tensile-only.

Model effectively simulates explosion and impact fragmentation scenarios.

Abstract

We present a model of solids made from polygonal cells connected via beams. We calculate the macroscopic elastic moduli from the beam and cell parameters. This modellisation is particularly suited for the simulation of fragmentation processes. We study the effects of an explosion inside a circular disk and the impact of a projectile and obtain the fragment size distribution. We find that if breaking only happens under tensile forces a layer on the free wall opposed to impact is first ejected. In that case the distribution follows a power-law with an exponent that in most cases is around two.