A novel method based on orientation discretization for discrete element modeling of non-spherical particles

We present a novel method for discrete element modeling of non-spherical particles. The method is based on orientation discretization and pre-calculated databases and can be applied to any shaped particles in a general scheme. The method is realized in both two and three dimensions. And it is used to simulate the packing and flow of different shaped non-spherical particles. The good agreement between the simulated results and those reported in the literature, including experimental results and well established numerical results, verifies the method. The computational speed is shown to be fast and independent of particle shape. Further developments and potential applications of the method are also discussed. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved,