Abstract: | The Discrete Element Method (DEM) was originally devised by Cundall and Strack (1979), as a technique to examine the micromechanics of granular media with the anticipation that this would lead to more physically reliable continuum theories to describe the quasi-static deformation of granular material such as sand. However, the methodology models the evolution of a system of particles as a dynamic process. Consequently there have been numerous publications of the application of DEM to an increasingly wider v... |