The paper deals with three-dimensional simulations of a monotonic quasi-static interface behaviour between cohesionless sand and a rigid wall of different roughness during wall friction tests in a parallelly guided direct shear test under constant normal stress. Numerical modelling was carried out by the discrete element method (DEM) using spheres with contact moments to approximately capture a non-uniform particle shape. The varying wall surface topography was simulated by a regular mesh of triangular grooves (asperities) along the wall with a different height, distance and inclination. The calculations were carried out with different initial void ratios of sand and vertical normal stress. The focus was to quantify the effect of wall roughness on the evolution of mobilized wall friction and shear localization, also to specify the ratios between slip and rotation and between shear stress/force and couple stress/moment in the sand at the wall. DEM simulations were generally in good agreement with reported experimental results for similar interface roughness. The findings presented in this paper offer a new perspective on the understanding of the wall friction phenomenon in granular bodies.

The paper deals with two-dimensional (2D) numerical modelling of hydro-fracking (hydraulic fracturing) in rocks at the meso-scale. A numerical model was developed to characterize the properties of fluid-driven fractures in rocks by combining the discrete element method (DEM) with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). The mechanical behaviour of the rock matrix was simulated with DEM and the behaviour of the fracturing fluid flow in newly developed and pre-existing fractures with CFD. The changes in the void geometry in the rock matrix were taken into account. The initial 2D hydro-fracking simulation tests were carried out for a rock segment under biaxial compression with one injection slot in order to validate the numerical model. The qualitative effect of several parameters on the propagation of a hydraulic fracture was studied: initial porosity of the rock matrix, dynamic viscosity of the fracking fluid, rock strength and pre-existing fracture. The characteristic features of a fractured rock mass due to a high-pressure injection of fluid were realistically modelled by the proposed coupled approach.

Three-dimensional simulations of a monotonic quasi-static interface behaviour between initially dense cohesionless sand and a rigid wall of different roughness during tests in a parallelly guided direct shear test under constant normal stress are presented. Numerical modelling was carried out by the discrete element method (DEM) using clumps in the form of convex non-symmetric irregularly shaped grains. The clumps had an aspect ratio of 1.5. A regular grid of triangular grooves (asperities) along the wall with a different height at the same distance was assumed. The numerical results with clumps were directly compared under the same conditions with our earlier DEM simulations using pure spheres with contact moments with respect to the peak and residual interface friction angle, width of the interface shear zone, ratio between grain slips and grain rotations, distribution of contact forces and stresses. The difference between the behaviour of clumps and pure spheres with contact moments proved to be noticeable in the post-peak regime due to a different particle shape. The rolling resistance model with pure spheres was proved to be limited for capturing particle shape effects. Three different boundary conditions along the interface were proposed for micropolar continua, considering grain rotations and grain slips, wall grain moments and wall grain forces, and normalized interface roughness. The numerical results in this paper offer a better understanding of the interface behaviour of granular bodies in DEM and FEM simulations.