Kinetic analysis of polyhedral block system using an improved potential-based penalty function approach for explicit discontinuous deformation analysis

The complexity of polyhedral block systems (e.g., small blocks, flat blocks with small angles, edges, or faces) poses challenges in the kinetic analysis of rock block systems. This paper proposed an improved potential-based penalty function approach within an explicit three-dimensional (3D) discontinuous deformation analysis (DDA) framework for efficient and robust kinetic analysis of rock block systems. An explicit formulation of 3D DDA based on velocity verlet algorithm is first derived. A novel definition of potential function is then proposed with details of the key algorithms for overlap judgment of convex polyhedron, construction of intersection polyhedron and numerical integral for computation of contact force. The improved potential-based penalty function method is robust and efficient for complex convex polyhedral shapes. Several benchmark and application examples verify the feasibility, accuracy and robustness of the proposed methods in solving contact of polyhedral block systems. (C) 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.