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Effect of Damping Mode in Laboratory and Field-Scale Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) Models

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Abstract

In practical rock engineering, Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) is one of the most widely used two-dimensional software packages for simulating discontinuum behaviors of rocks and rockmasses. Over the years, this software has been used to study phenomena, such as grain-scale fracturing in laboratory specimens, spalling around tunnels and roadways, shearing and separation along discontinuities in jointed rockmasses, etc. One of the lesser discussed topics in context of explicit time-stepping discontinuum modeling in UDEC is the damping mode employed for such simulations. For static analysis, the ‘local’ (default) and ‘combined’ damping modes are generally used, but their effects on the emergent model response as well as their suitability to a particular problem are not well documented in the literature. To help bridge this gap, this study contrasts the responses of a laboratory-scale model, a hypothetical granite pillar model and a hypothetical coal mine entry model with ‘Local’ and ‘Combined’ damping modes. It was found that in small-scale simulations, the results using ‘Local’ and ‘Combined’ damping modes were similar, but the differences were significant in the field-scale models. In particular, ‘Local’ damping mode tended to suppress large deformations, predicted high pillar strengths and increased model run-time significantly. Although it is difficult to definitively establish which of the two damping mode leads to more realistic excavation-scale behavior in a given scenario, the authors suggest the use of ‘Combined’ damping for models of individual excavations where large deformations and block separations are expected.

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Acknowledgements

The research conducted for this study was funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under Grant Number 200-2016-90154. The authors would like to extend their gratitude for the financial support. The majority of the modeling effort for this study was conducted using educational licenses of UDEC provided by Itasca Consulting, Ltd. The authors appreciate Itasca’s support in this capacity.

Funding

The research conducted for this study was funded by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under Grant Number 200-2016-90154.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    Sankhaneel Sinha, Rami Abousleiman & Gabriel Walton

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  1. Sankhaneel Sinha
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  2. Rami Abousleiman
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  3. Gabriel Walton
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Contributions

Study conception and design: Sankhaneel Sinha, Gabriel Walton. Data collection: Sankhaneel Sinha, Rami Abousleiman. Analysis and interpretation of results: Sankhaneel Sinha, Rami Abousleiman. Draft manuscript preparation: Sankhaneel Sinha, Gabriel Walton, Rami Abousleiman.

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Correspondence to Sankhaneel Sinha.

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Sinha, S., Abousleiman, R. & Walton, G. Effect of Damping Mode in Laboratory and Field-Scale Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC) Models. Rock Mech Rock Eng 55, 2899–2915 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00603-021-02609-6

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