NUMERICAL MODELING OF GRANULAR PARTICULATE SYSTEMS BY DISCRETE ELEMENT METHOD/

The discrete element method (DEM) enables us to describe the behavior of granular/particulate systems by employing a simple model of micro-m echanical contacts between particles consisting of a spring and a dash -pot coupled with Newton's equation of motion. The DEM is considered s uperior to other methods because characteristic properties of individu al particles can be specified. It is also worth mentioning for DEM tha t parameters, affecting inter-particle contacts, can be determined fro m the physical properties of materials such as the Young's modulus, Po isson ratio, frictional coefficient and restitution coefficient, An at tempt has been made in this paper to cover an outline of the DEM and i ts application to the numerical modeling of granular/particulate syste ms.