Understanding the Discrete Element Method

Simulation of Non-Spherical Particles for Granular and Multi-body Systems

Gives readers a more thorough understanding of DEM and equips researchers for independent work and an ability to judge methods related to simulation of polygonal particles

• Introduces DEM from the fundamental concepts (theoretical mechanics and solidstate physics), with 2D and 3D simulation methods for polygonal particles
• Provides the fundamentals of coding discrete element method (DEM) requiring little advance knowledge of granular matter or numerical simulation
• Highlights the numerical tricks and pitfalls that are usually only realized after years of experience, with relevant simple experiments as applications
• Presents a logical approach starting withthe mechanical and physical bases,followed by a description of the techniques and finally their applications
• Written by a key author presenting ideas on how to model the dynamics of angular particles using polygons and polyhedral
• Accompanying website includes MATLAB-Programs providing the simulation code for two-dimensional polygons

Recommended for researchers and graduate students who deal with particle models in areas such as fluid dynamics, multi-body engineering, finite-element methods, the geosciences, and multi-scale physics.