New modelling and analysis methods for concrete armour unit systems using FEMDEM

Rubble mound breakwaters armoured with concrete units rely on collective behaviour between adjacent concrete armour units but existing largely empirical approaches have been unable to provide a detailed understanding of how these gigantic granular systems work. The problem has been that current methods cannot investigate the interdependence of hydraulic and structural stability at the scale of individual units. Numerical methods have the potential to provide such answers but there are many challenges to overcome. We present a solution to the first major bottleneck concerning the solids modelling: the numerical creation of a breakwater trunk section of single layer concrete units with geometrical and mechanical properties that conform to realistic prototype structure placements. Positioning of units is achieved with a new versatile software tool, POSITIT, which incorporates user-defined deposition variables and the initial positioning grid necessary to achieve the required design packing densities. The code Y3D, based on the combined finite-discrete element method, FEMDEM, solves the multi-body mechanics of the problem. First, we show numerically constructed breakwater sections with armour layers of 8 m3 CORE-LOC™ units placed on rock underlayers. The numerically-generated packs are deemed acceptable when examined according to a range of criteria indicative of acceptably placed armour layers, as set by concrete unit designers. Breakwater sections with packing densities ranging from 0.59 to 0.63 are then created. Using a set of analysis tools, local variation in packing density as an indicator of heterogeneity, centroid spacing, unit contacts and orientation of unit axes are presented, together with mechanical information showing the variation in contact forces. For these five packs examined, an increasingly tighter pack was associated with a steady increase in coordination number and a more steeply and accelerating increase in average maximum contact force per unit. The force distribution results and discussion presented illustrate the potential of discrete unit FEMDEM modelling methods to address initial placement quality, armour layer design and future innovation in rubble mound structures.