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Continuum modelling of dynamic behaviour and fragmentation of quasi‐brittle materials: application to rock fragmentation by blasting
Author(s) -
Rouabhi A.,
Tijani M.,
Moser P.,
Goetz D.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
international journal for numerical and analytical methods in geomechanics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.419
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1096-9853
pISSN - 0363-9061
DOI - 10.1002/nag.436
Subject(s) - rock blasting , fragmentation (computing) , brittleness , demolition , finite element method , structural engineering , geotechnical engineering , constitutive equation , mechanics , engineering , forensic engineering , geology , computer science , materials science , physics , civil engineering , composite material , operating system
Fragmentation plays an important role in a wide variety of industrial processes such as blasting, demolition, crushing, cutting, etc., in which one desires to cause fragmentation in the most efficient and controlled manner. Nevertheless, a consistent theoretical description of this process is not yet available. In this paper, we present a computational methodology to simulate both the behaviour and the fragmentation of quasi‐brittle materials, such as rocks and concrete, under dynamic loadings. We consider that the fragmentation process is a natural extension of the fracture process. In order to describe the dynamic fracture process, a suitable phenomenological constitutive model is developed and implemented in a finite element code. Concerning the dynamic fragmentation, a general formulation of predicting the fragment size distribution is provided. This formulation is based on a post‐processing analysis of the history of the material's thermodynamic state. The complete approach is then applied to the modelling of the fragmentation of chamber blasting tests of limestone cylindrical samples. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.