Two-dimensional dynamic simulation of fracture and fragmentation of solids

We present a two-dimensional discrete model of solids that allows us to follow the behavior of the solid body and of the fragments well beyond the formation of simple cracks. The model, consisting of polygonal cells connected via beams, is an extension of discrete models used to study granular flows. This modeling is particularly suited for the simulation of fracture and fragmentation processes. After calculating the macroscopic elastic moduli from the cell and beam parameters, we present a detailed study of an uniaxial compression test of a rectangular block, and of the dynamic fragmentation processes of solids in various experimental situations. The model proved to be successful in reproducing the experimentally observed subtleties of fragmenting solids. o handle numerically due to the creation and continuous motion of new surfaces. Commonly used numerical methods solve partial differential equations of continuum mechanics. With classical numerical methods such as Finite Elements (FE), Finite Differences (FD) or Boundary Elements (BE) a small number of discontinuities may be considered but these methods cannot encompass the entire fracturing process. The alternative approach is the Discrete Element Method (DEM) in which the elastic medium is considered to be fully discontinuous, i.e. the elastic solid is assembled of discrete elements. The microscopic interaction of the elements is defined such that the model accounts for the macroscopic elastic behavior of materials. The time evolution of the model is followed by solving numerically the equation of motion of the individual elements (Molecular Dynamics (MD)). This model construction results in a “simulated solid” and the modeling of a specific process of a material is referred to as simulation. The inter-element contacts can be considered as grain boundaries which define the � Corresponding author