5,776 research outputs found
An adaptive hierarchical domain decomposition method for parallel contact dynamics simulations of granular materials
A fully parallel version of the contact dynamics (CD) method is presented in
this paper. For large enough systems, 100% efficiency has been demonstrated for
up to 256 processors using a hierarchical domain decomposition with dynamic
load balancing. The iterative scheme to calculate the contact forces is left
domain-wise sequential, with data exchange after each iteration step, which
ensures its stability. The number of additional iterations required for
convergence by the partially parallel updates at the domain boundaries becomes
negligible with increasing number of particles, which allows for an effective
parallelization. Compared to the sequential implementation, we found no
influence of the parallelization on simulation results.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, published in Journal of Computational Physics
(2011
Event-Driven Molecular Dynamics in Parallel
Although event-driven algorithms have been shown to be far more efficient
than time-driven methods such as conventional molecular dynamics, they have not
become as popular. The main obstacle seems to be the difficulty of
parallelizing event-driven molecular dynamics. Several basic ideas have been
discussed in recent years, but to our knowledge no complete implementation has
been published yet. In this paper we present a parallel event-driven algorithm
including dynamic load-balancing, which can be easily implemented on any
computer architecture. To simplify matters our explanations refer to a basic
multi-particle system of hard spheres, but can be extended easily to a wide
variety of possible models.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure
Polygons vs. clumps of discs: a numerical study of the influence of grain shape on the mechanical behaviour of granular materials
We performed a series of numerical vertical compression tests on assemblies
of 2D granular material using a Discrete Element code and studied the results
with regard to the grain shape. The samples consist of 5,000 grains made from
either 3 overlapping discs (clumps - grains with concavities) or six-edged
polygons (convex grains). These two grain type have similar external envelopes,
which is a function of a geometrical parameter .
In this paper, the numerical procedure applied is briefly presented followed
by the description of the granular model used. Observations and mechanical
analysis of dense and loose granular assemblies under isotropic loading are
made. The mechanical response of our numerical granular samples is studied in
the framework of the classical vertical compression test with constant lateral
stress (biaxial test). The comparison of macroscopic responses of dense and
loose samples with various grain shapes shows that when is considered
a concavity parameter, it is therefore a relevant variable for increasing
mechanical performances of dense samples. When is considered an
envelope deviation from perfect sphericity, it can control mechanical
performances for large strains. Finally, we present some remarks concerning the
kinematics of the deformed samples: while some polygon samples subjected to a
vertical compression present large damage zones (any polygon shape), dense
samples made of clumps always exhibit thin reflecting shear bands. This paper
was written as part of a CEGEO research project www.granuloscience.comComment: This version of the paper doesn't include figures. Visit the journal
web site to download the final version of the paper with the figure
Viscoroute 2.0: a tool for the simulation of moving load effects on asphalt pavement
As shown by strains measured on full scale experimental aircraft structures,
traffic of slow-moving multiple loads leads to asymmetric transverse strains
that can be higher than longitudinal strains at the bottom of asphalt pavement
layers. To analyze this effect, a model and a software called ViscoRoute have
been developed. In these tools, the structure is represented by a multilayered
half-space, the thermo-viscoelastic behaviour of asphalt layers is accounted by
the Huet-Sayegh rheological law and loads are assumed to move at constant
speed. First, the paper presents a comparison of results obtained with
ViscoRoute to results stemming from the specialized literature. For thick
asphalt pavement and several configurations of moving loads, other ViscoRoute
simulations confirm that it is necessary to incorporate viscoelastic effects in
the modelling to well predict the pavement behaviour and to anticipate possible
damages in the structure.Comment: 27 pages
A quadtree-polygon-based scaled boundary finite element method for image-based mesoscale fracture modelling in concrete
A quadtree-polygon scaled boundary finite element-based approach for image-based modelling of concrete fracture at the mesoscale is developed. Digital images representing the two-phase mesostructure of concrete, which comprises of coarse aggregates and mortar are either generated using a take-and-place algorithm with a user-defined aggregate volume ratio or obtained from X-ray computed tomography as an input. The digital images are automatically discretised for analysis by applying a balanced quadtree decomposition in combination with a smoothing operation. The scaled boundary finite element method is applied to model the constituents in the concrete mesostructure. A quadtree formulation within the framework of the scaled boundary finite element method is advantageous in that the displacement compatibility between the cells are automatically preserved even in the presence of hanging nodes. Moreover, the geometric flexibility of the scaled boundary finite element method facilitates the use of arbitrary sided polygons, allowing better representation of the aggregate boundaries. The computational burden is significantly reduced as there are only finite number of cell types in a balanced quadtree mesh. The cells in the mesh are connected to each other using cohesive interface elements with appropriate softening laws to model the fracture of the mesostructure. Parametric studies are carried out on concrete specimens subjected to uniaxial tension to investigate the effects of various parameters e.g. aggregate size distribution, porosity and aggregate volume ratio on the fracture of concrete at the meso-scale. Mesoscale fracture of concrete specimens obtained from X-ray computed tomography scans are carried out to demonstrate its feasibility
Similarities between protein folding and granular jamming.
Grains and glasses, widely different materials, arrest their motions upon decreasing temperature and external load, respectively, in common ways, leading to a universal jamming phase diagram conjecture. However, unified theories are lacking, mainly because of the disparate nature of the particle interactions. Here we demonstrate that folded proteins exhibit signatures common to both glassiness and jamming by using temperature- and force-unfolding molecular dynamics simulations. Upon folding, proteins develop a peak in the interatomic force distributions that falls on a universal curve with experimentally measured forces on jammed grains and droplets. Dynamical signatures are found as a dramatic slowdown of stress relaxation upon folding. Together with granular similarities, folding is tied not just to the jamming transition, but a more nuanced picture of anisotropy, preparation protocol and internal interactions emerges. Results have implications for designing stable polymers and can open avenues to link protein folding to jamming theory
An extension to VORO++ for multithreaded computation of Voronoi cells
VORO++ is a software library written in C++ for computing the Voronoi
tessellation, a technique in computational geometry that is widely used for
analyzing systems of particles. VORO++ was released in 2009 and is based on
computing the Voronoi cell for each particle individually. Here, we take
advantage of modern computer hardware, and extend the original serial version
to allow for multithreaded computation of Voronoi cells via the OpenMP
application programming interface. We test the performance of the code, and
demonstrate that we can achieve parallel efficiencies greater than 95% in many
cases. The multithreaded extension follows standard OpenMP programming
paradigms, allowing it to be incorporated into other programs. We provide an
example of this using the VoroTop software library, performing a multithreaded
Voronoi cell topology analysis of up to 102.4 million particles.Comment: Fix typo and section number
A stochastic flow rule for granular materials
There have been many attempts to derive continuum models for dense granular
flow, but a general theory is still lacking. Here, we start with Mohr-Coulomb
plasticity for quasi-2D granular materials to calculate (average) stresses and
slip planes, but we propose a "stochastic flow rule" (SFR) to replace the
principle of coaxiality in classical plasticity. The SFR takes into account two
crucial features of granular materials - discreteness and randomness - via
diffusing "spots" of local fluidization, which act as carriers of plasticity.
We postulate that spots perform random walks biased along slip-lines with a
drift direction determined by the stress imbalance upon a local switch from
static to dynamic friction. In the continuum limit (based on a Fokker-Planck
equation for the spot concentration), this simple model is able to predict a
variety of granular flow profiles in flat-bottom silos, annular Couette cells,
flowing heaps, and plate-dragging experiments -- with essentially no fitting
parameters -- although it is only expected to function where material is at
incipient failure and slip-lines are inadmissible. For special cases of
admissible slip-lines, such as plate dragging under a heavy load or flow down
an inclined plane, we postulate a transition to rate-dependent Bagnold
rheology, where flow occurs by sliding shear planes. With different yield
criteria, the SFR provides a general framework for multiscale modeling of
plasticity in amorphous materials, cycling between continuum limit-state stress
calculations, meso-scale spot random walks, and microscopic particle
relaxation
- …