Fourier-Voronoi-based generation of realistic samples for discrete modelling of granular materials

This paper presents a novel method to generate realistic packings for discrete modelling of granular materials. To generate a packing of 2D dense sample in a container of arbitrary shape, a number of key particle properties are identified as the targeted ones to reproduce, including the grain size distribution, density, particles orientations as well as specific shape characteristics of the particles. Four descriptors, including elongation, circularity, roundness, regularity, are chosen to characterize the particle shape. The considered container is discretized by a Voronoi tessellation with prescribed cell size and orientation distributions. Each Voronoi cell is then filled with a particle with prescribed shape characteristics. Several algorithms are proposed and are compared in terms of their computational efficiency and accuracy to define the particle contours, to constrain the Voronoi tessellation and to fill the Voronoi cells with particles. Two examples are further employed to demonstrate the accuracy and the potential usefulness of the proposed method for a wide range of applications where discrete modelling of granular media is important.