Coupling of material point and continuum discontinuum element methods for simulating blast-induced fractures in rock

A rock blasting simulation method is proposed that couples the material point method (MPM) and continuum discontinuum element method (CDEM). Blast-induced rock fractures are captured by the CDEM using normal and shear springs, and the explosive detonation is simulated by the MPM with a Jones-Wilkins-Lee equation of state. A particle-surface/edge contact method is introduced into the MPM-CDEM to calculate the interaction between the detonation products and rock medium. Three numerical examples are presented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method. The fracture degree is represented as the ratio of the number of fractured springs to the total number of springs, and is used to analyze the evolution of shear and tension cracks under blasting. The simulation results show that the proposed numerical method well simulates blast-induced rock fractures and considers both progressive rock fracturing and the real explosive detonation. In particular, the expansion of the detonation gas, crushed zone around the blasthole, radial cracks, and effects of pre-existing stress on the blast-induced fractures are all successfully simulated