ABSTRACT
Evaluation of the swell through a simulated muckpile requires accurate modelling of the explosive loading of the rock mass and the subsequent movement of that rock mass to its final resting place. Latham et al. (2000) present a comprehensive analysis of the state of rock particle packing based on predictions across a range of modelling platforms for different particle surface properties and size distributions. They conclude that numerical modelling is critical for accurate analysis of particle interaction and the resulting swell. However, to date, most numerical modelling in this area has used idealised simple shapes such as discs, spheres and ellipsoids due to their computational efficiency. In order to more accurately simulate both the particle movement and the packing it is ultimately necessary to consider irregular 3D discrete elements with dynamic force interactions.
