ABSTRACT

The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is a numerical tool to simulate large deformation including fracture and dynamics of geo-materials, such as rock, soil and granular materials (Cundall and Strack 1979). Further, several coupling schemes with the DEM, such as thermal-fluid coupling, have been applied for many engineering problems along with recent progress of computer performance (Tsuji and Kawaguchi 1993, Kawaguchi 2003, Shimizu 2006, El Shamy and Zegal 2007).