This tutorial will guide you through the main steps required to build a simple PFC model with 30 interacting balls in a box using the linear contact model.
This tutorial will demonstrate a method to create a hybrid mesh of tetrahedral zones to model the rock mass and hexahedral zones to model a concrete liner. Hexahedral zones for the liner are preferred in order to more accurately capture plastic strains in this region. The meshing is done by utilizing the Itasca Griddle volume mesher plug-in for Rhino 3D. Importing the final mesh into FLAC3D, for future finite volume modeling, is also demonstrated.
A pressure pulse is being applied to the tunnel boundary with a frequency of 4 Hz over tens of milliseconds. Quiet (i.e., viscous) boundaries have been applied to all but the top of the model, which remains a free surface.
The Boliden Kevitsa open pit mine is revising its strategic plan with a new pit optimization project undertaken to investigate an increase in production.
Mesh quality is crucial for the stability, accuracy, and fast convergence of numerical simulations. However, given the geometrical complexity of some models and the tools available for mesh creation, it is often necessary to accept meshes that deviate significantly from the known ideal shape.
We derive the relationships that link the general elastic properties of rock masses to the geometrical properties of fracture networks, with a special emphasis to the case of frictional crack surfaces.
We extend the well-known elastic solutions for free-slipping cracks to fractures whose plane resistance is defined by an elastic fracture (shear) stiffness ks and a stick-slip Coulomb threshold.