2D DEM Analysis of Cone Penetration Resistance on Mesoscopic Soil Model

We focused on the cone penetration and proposed an approach called mesoscopic soil model, by which we could develop a virtual numerical model at an intermediate scale of element diameters without sacrificing the simplicity in application of Discrete Element Method DEM. Along with the experiments on mesoscopic soil model, we have developed a 2D DEM program with circle element for cone penetration analysis. In our DEM, the rolling friction was introduced to avoid excessive element rotation of circular element. The result of DEM analysis on cone penetration resistance for mesoscopic soil model showed that the developed program had sufficient accuracy in the prediction of penetration resistance against mesoscopic model. For real sand, not only the spring constants but also the elemental density in DEM was modified to obtain comparable results as in the experiment. Introduction of clumped element was also discussed to investigate the effect of particle shape of real sand.