Proceedings of the Institution of

Civil Engineers
Geotechnical Engineering 149
January 2001 Issue 1
Pages 41^47

Paper 12211
Received 11/11/1999
Accepted 25/05/2000

Keywords:
Peter A. Cundall
design methods & aids/mathema-
Senior Consultant, Itasca
tical modelling/stress analysis
Consulting Group, Inc.,
Minneapolis

A discontinuous future for numerical modelling in

geomechanics?
P. A. Cundall
Finite-element or finite-difference methods are com-
monly used in geomechanics to model the response of
soil or rock at an engineering site. These methods
assume that the material is a continuum (although
known discontinuities can be included explicitly). There
are two drawbacks with continuum methods. Firstly, an
appropriate stress^strain law for the material may not
exist, or the law may be excessively complicated with
many obscure parameters. Secondly, the natural devel-
opment of cracks and rupture surfaces is not well-
handled by continuum approaches. It is suggested that
the future trend for numerical modelling in soil and rock
may consist of the replacement of continuum methods
by particle methods. Assemblies of discrete particles
(bonded together to represent rock, and unbonded to
represent soil) capture the complicated behaviour of
actual material with simple assumptions and few para-
meters at the micro level. Complex overall behaviour
arises as an emergent property of the assembly. The
application of particle methods to large-scale problems
is currently difficult or impossible because of high com-
putational demands. It is shown that such applications
should be feasible within ten years, and certainly within
20 years. Examples are given of the simulation of granu-
lar material and rock by particle methods.
1. INTRODUCTION
A possible direction is suggested for numerical modelling in
geomechanics over the next 10±20 years, in which current
continuum methods are progressively replaced by particle-
based methods. Of course, the future of modelling could simply
consist of extensions and re®nements of current approaches,
but an alternative is surely worthy of consideration.
Numerical methods, such as ®nite elements or ®nite differences,
are commonly used in geotechnical projects to assess the
response of soil or rock to imposed loads or changed boundary
conditions. These are continuum methods, in which variables,
such as displacement and stress, are assumed to vary con-
tinuously in space. Two dif®culties exist with continuum
methods: ®rstly, a suitable stress±strain law may not exist for
some materials; and, secondly, localised features, such as
cracks, are dif®cult to resolve numerically, although they
develop in reality. By replacing the continuum with an
assembly of particles, both problems are largely overcome, as
explained later. The suggestion made here is that, for
engineering problems, particle simulations may (and should)
gradually replace continuum methods for modelling the
response of soil and rock. However, before particle simulations
can be used routinely, computers must become faster, and a
new body of knowledge, concerning calibration of micro-laws,
must evolve.
In ®nite-element or ®nite-difference methods, the material is
idealised as a continuum that obeys some constitutive (stress±
strain) relation. An impressive catalogue of constitutive
relations has been devised, ranging from isotropic elasticity to
elastic/plastic models with multiple yield surfaces, non-asso-
ciated ¯ow rules and general hardening/softening rules. It is
not the purpose here to describe or even tabulate the existing
material laws, except to say that there are many hundreds in
use, and that they can be extremely complicated. The
complexity is thought to be necessary because geomechanical
materials can exhibit complex responses under certain condi-
tions. Modellers cannot resist adding yet another new feature to
their favourite model (with the necessary extra parameters) to
capture some aspect of material behaviour that is thought to be
critically important. Almost all continuum constitutive models
are phenomenological: that is, the relations used in the model
are rarely based on known mechanisms, but are devised so that
the model response matches the response observed in the
laboratory. In essence, curve-®tting is used.
Certainly, soil and rock behave in complicated ways, and
sometimes it is necessary to model such behaviour. For
example, liquefaction can arise from irreversible, volumetric
changes in sand caused by cyclic shear loading. This mechan-
ism, and many others, depends on the particulate nature of
sandÐin this case, excess pore pressures arise from the
increasingly tighter packing of grains induced by certain load
paths. Rather than inventing a constitutive model that mimics
overall sand behaviour through a set of manufactured (but
essentially gratuitous) equations, the physical behaviour may
be reproduced simply by representing directly the granular
material on the computer. Appropriate DEM (discrete, or
distinct, element method) approaches have been in use for
almost 30 years.1±3 The complete motion and interaction of
thousands of particles can be simulated numerically with these
approaches.

Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1 Numerical modelling in geomechanics Cundall 41

 DEM simulations in which particle assemblies replace a
continuum are computationally intensive, and are therefore
hardly ever used to represent complete boundary-value pro-
blems, such as an entire dam or excavation. Rather, they are
used to study the behaviour of single elements, such as
laboratory samples. However, computer speed and memory size
continues to increase dramatically. It should be feasible to
replace three-dimensional ®nite-element simulations of entire
soil and rock systems using the DEM on personal computers,
within a few years. The main reason for doing this is to avoid the
need to invent constitutive laws for continuum codes, particu-
larly laws that involve large numbers of obscure parameters and
assumptions. Particle assemblies typically require few para-
meters to yield computed behaviour substantially similar to that
observed in reality. However, the drawback is that an additional
calibration stage is necessary, as described later. Further, it is not
possible to include in the numerical model every grain of sand in
an embankment. However, there are reliable scaling laws that
enable the effect of particle size to be eliminated. Although far
fewer particles exist in the model than in the physical system,
the internal mechanisms remain essentially unchanged, and
equivalent continuum measures, such as stresses and strains, are
reproduced faithfully. The complex behaviour observed in real
sand derives, in large part, from microscopic geometric changes
induced by loading, and, to a lesser extent, from the basic
contact laws between particle pairs, which are quite simple.
Thus, rich behaviour materialises, almost magically, in simulated
systems of grains. This is the attraction of particle simulations of
continua: the appropriate complexity appears as an emergent
feature, without the need for it to be programmed explicitly.
The close correspondence between particle assemblies and
granular material is evident, but particle simulations can also
represent brittle or ductile solids, such as rock and concrete. If
particles are bonded together, the progressive breaking of bonds
corresponds to cracking in a solid. One advantage of this
approach is that fractures naturally form at discrete locations,
rather than being smeared across elements (which is one way in
which continuum methods attempt to reproduce the effects of
cracks).
The methodology by which continuum modelling is replaced by
simulation of particle assemblies is explained and illustrated in
the following sections.
2. BEHAVIOUR OF SOIL AND ROCK
Soil and rock exhibit rich spectra of behaviour. Some observa-
tions reported in laboratory tests are listed below.
(a) Continuously non-linear stress±strain response, with ulti-
mate failure, followed by softening or hardening.
(b) Behaviour that changes in character, according to stress
stateÐfor example, the crack patterns in rock are quite
different in the tensile, uncon®ned and con®ned regimes.
(c) Memory of previous stress or strain excursions, commonly
expressed in terms of yield surfacesÐthe memory may be
modi®ed or erased (e.g. kinematic or isotropic hardening).
(d) Spontaneous localisationÐfor example, shear bands and
crack patterns.
(e) Dilatancy that depends on history, mean stress and initial
state.
( f ) Hysteresis at all levels of cyclic loading/unloading; cyclic
42 Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1 Numerical modelling in geomechanics
energy dissipation is strongly dependent on cyclic load
amplitude.
(g) Transition from brittle behaviour at low mean stress to
ductile behaviour at high mean stress.
(h) A non-linear envelope of strength as a function of mean
stress and of relative magnitude of principal stresses.
(i ) Non-linear dependence of `elastic' stiffness on con®ning
stress and its history.
( j) Induced anisotropy of stiffness and strength, strongly
in¯uenced by stress or strain path.
(k) Spontaneous emission of acoustic energy.
All of these phenomena have been observed and documented in
particle simulations of laboratory samples. The number of
parameters used to describe particle interactions in these
models is in the range of three to seven (apart from packing
parameters, such as porosity). In contrast, continuum constitu-
tive models that capture all of the previously listed phenomena
do not exist. Continuum models that reproduce some of the
phenomena often have large numbers of input parameters and/
or internal state variables. Further, the physical signi®cance of
the parameters may be obscure. The micro-parameters in
particle models (such as contact stiffness or bond strength) have
clear physical signi®cance, although their values must be
established indirectly, through calibration.
In addition to the foregoing phenomena, others involve time-
dependence of various sorts, such as stress corrosion and creep.
These mechanisms have also been modelled with particle
simulations, but more micro-parameters must be added.
3. PARTICLE MODELS OF SOIL AND ROCK FABRIC
There are various schemes to simulate the behaviour of systems
of discrete bodies; a survey of these methods is given by
Cundall and Hart.4 Although any such method can be used in
the approach suggested here, the basic formulation for only one
methodÐthe distinct element method5Ðis described because it is
the method used to produce the examples that follow. The
discussion is also restricted to circular particles, although
mature computer codes exist that treat arbitrary polyhedra in
three dimensions.6 Each disk or sphere is modelled as a rigid
body with three or six degrees of freedom, respectively (e.g.
three translations and three spins, in three-dimensional form).
The full dynamic motion of each body is modelled, with
damping being used to dissipate kinetic energy in order for
systems of particles to attain static equilibrium. When particles
come into contact (as a result of motion induced by gravity and
boundary conditions), forces, F, are generated as a function of
the relative displacements, u, at contacts. Simple linear
relations are often adequate (expressed here in incremental
form)
1 F n = 7knDun
DF
2 Fis = 7ksDuis
DF
where superscripts n and s denote `normal' and `shear',
respectively, k is a contact stiffness coef®cient and subscript i
denotes the components of a vector (i = 1, 3 in three
dimensions).
Cundall
The formulation for slip at the contact is equally simple
3 Fis|>mF
If |F Fn then Fis / FismF Fis|
F n/|F
where m is the friction coef®cient and F n is positive in
compression. A particle assembly in which contacts obey these
relations exhibits much of the complex behaviour associated
with soil, as tabulated previously.
In order to model a brittle solid, contacts are assumed to be
bonded initially. One simple formulation for a bonded contact
assumes that the foregoing elastic equations hold until either
the tensile normal force or the magnitude of the shear force
exceeds some given strength parameter. In that case, the bond
breaks, and the behaviour reverts to that of a granular material.
A more complicated bond formulation can also be used, in
which moments are developed at contacts. The condition for
normal bond breakage in that case is a combination of moment
and tensile force.
For any contact model, it is necessary to calibrate the synthetic
material such that its behaviour matches that of a target
material. This process, summarised by Potyondy et al.,7
consists of performing simulated laboratory tests, and adjust-
ing micro properties in a systematic manner until the observed
macro response is suf®ciently close to that desired. A packed
assembly of particles with a given porosity is ®rst created, and
the initial contact forces are reduced below some set threshold.
Then, tests are performed to determine the elastic constants of
the assembly. Matching of target elastic properties is straight-
forward, because there is a linear relationship between micro
and macro elastic response. Then the peak strength of the
assembly is matched by adjusting contact bond strengths and
friction coef®cients. The shape of the stress±strain curve can
also be adjusted by changing the standard deviation of a
random distribution of con-
tact strengths within the
assembly. In the process of
calibration, it is not suf®cient
to perform tests on a single
assembly of particles. A
number of realisations (with
the same statistical proper-
ties) must be tested so that
proper statistical sampling is
achieved. Thus, the creation
of synthetic materials for a
particle simulation is much
more complicated than the
speci®cation of material
parameters for, say, a ®nite-
element analysis.
4. EXAMPLE APPLICATIONSöGRANULAR MATERIAL
Figure 1 illustrates a simulated slope consisting of 14 000 disks
in two dimensions. The dark lines correspond to particles that
are marked, to aid visualisation. Plot (a) shows a stable slope, in
which the bond strength between each particle pair is suf®cient
to prevent overall movement (although some transient move-
ment occurs when the slope is constructed). If particle bond
strengths are all reduced by the same factor, the slope fails as
shown in plot (b), which reproduces the con®guration of the
®nal, stable state.
The example is presented for illustration only, but it demon-
strates that progressive failure and restabilisation of a granular
material can be captured by a particle-based simulation. The
location of the `slip surface' develops automatically. Another
advantage of particle simulations that has not been mentioned
is that any level of displacement and strain can be accom-
modated. This example is not intended as evidence for the
superiority of particle models; on the contrary, the same thing
can be done with far less effort by many continuum codes with
elastic/plastic laws. However, the particle model can go much
further. For example, complex, progressive damage induced in
the slope by seismic excitation can be simulated with no change
to the model. In contrast, a complicated, cyclic constitutive law
must be supplied for a continuum model to reproduce such
damage.
A three-dimensional example is illustrated in Fig. 2. A
rectangular bin empties into a hopper that has two outlets at
either end of its long axis. The system contains approximately
110 000 spheres. Pairs of spheres are rigidly attached together,
with an overlap of one radius, to form `peanut-shaped'
particles; thus, there are about 55 000 composite particles
present. It is found that assemblies of spheres exhibit an overall
friction angle that is lower than that for typical granular
materials. By creating `super-particles', composed of arbitrary
(a)

The results presented in the

following sections were all
obtained with program
PFC,8,9 simply because it was (b)
readily available; there are
many other similar programs
Fig. 1. Simulated slope in which 14 000 disks are present, showing: (a) stable slope; and (b) slope
that could perform the tasks failure
equally well.

Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1 Numerical modelling in geomechanics Cundall 43


Fig. 2. Particles flowing from a bin through a tapering hopper.
The assembly consists of approximately 55 000 irregular
`clumps', with each clump containing two overlapping spheres
rigidly connected together
groups of overlapping
spheres, the overall friction
angle is increased. The exam-
ple illustrates the size of
problem that may be simu-
lated on a personal computer
in 1999. The simulation
shown took several days to
execute; the time is directly
proportional to the amount of
44 Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1
displacement modelled, so that a more typical application in
civil engineering may take less time.
5. EXAMPLE APPLICATIONSöROCK
An assembly of particles bonded together at their contacts acts
like a brittle solid. Such a synthetic material may be calibrated
to exhibit speci®c values of tensile strength, uncon®ned
compressive strength and fracture toughness. Fig. 3 shows an
assembly of bonded disks in which a notch has been cut. The
lateral faces are free and the upper and lower faces are
composed of particles (shown in blue) that are ®xed in the
horizontal direction and controlled in the vertical direction. By
moving the two sets of controlled particles apart at constant
speed, a simulated tensile test is performed on the sample.
The result of such a test is illustrated in Fig. 4, in which only
the controlled (blue) particles are shown, for clarity. Contact
forces are denoted by orange lines (for tension) and green lines
(for compression), in which thickness is proportional to force
magnitude, and orientation corresponds to local force direction.
A black line is drawn at each broken contact, in a direction that
is normal to the line joining the centres of the two particles
concerned. A macroscopic crack has extended almost halfway
across the sample, starting from the initial notch. At the state
shown, the crack is propagating in an unstable fashion, and it
will continue even if the boundaries are clamped. The example
illustrates that simulated laboratory tests may be performed,
such that the synthetic material is calibrated to reproduce the
response of a particular real material such as rock.
In the second example, a calibrated synthetic material is used to
model the Mine-by tunnel at the Underground Research
Laboratory in Pinawa, Canada,10 that exhibited breakout failure
in the form of notches aligned in the minor principal stress
direction. In this example, a somewhat more complex bonding
law (involving contact moments and time-dependent strength
reduction) was used. The mechanism of stress corrosion caused
bond strengths to decrease with time; thus, cracking around the
tunnel developed progressively. The ®nal, stable con®guration
of cracks (bond breaks) around the tunnel is shown in Fig. 5.
The crack locations and mechanisms are similar to those
observed in the ®eld. Fig. 6 shows a close-up of the crown of
the tunnel, showing the de-stressed region: compressive forces
are denoted by dark-blue lines, tensile forces by light-blue
lines, and cracks by red lines. More details can be found in a
report by Potyondy and Cundall.11
6. PREDICTIONS OF MODELLING FEASIBILITY
As the preceding examples have shown, it is possible to make
useful simulations with particle models on today's personal
computers. Is it feasible to expect large, three-dimensional
10 years 20 years
Problem type Total particles Equivalent Total particles Equivalent
continuum elements continuum elements
`Easy' problem 10 million 10 000 10 000 million 10 million
`Hard' problem 100 million 100 000 100 000 million 100 million
Table 1. Predicted model sizes in 10 and 20 years
Numerical modelling in geomechanics Cundall
®nite-element calculations to
be replaced by particle simu-
lations that have equivalent
resolutions? There is evi-
dence12 that the power (both
speed and memory) of small
machines, expressed in terms
of a constant machine cost, is
now doubling every year,
over the long term (although
the current technology is pre-
dicted to reach its limit by
year 2020). By personal mea-
surement, the speed of a
given geotechnical simulation
run on common personal
computers was found to have
increased by a factor of 7000
between 1985 and 1999. This
corresponds to a yearly factor
of 1´88. Considering that
machines were more expen-
sive in 1985, and that there is
strong evidence12 that the
rate of increase is itself
increasing, then a factor of 2
per year, per unit of price,
seems plausible. Fig. 3. Initial configuration of particles in a bonded sample that simulates a brittle solid; blue
particles are controlled, such that the upper set moves upwards and the lower set moves
Today, a three-dimensional downwards at a constant velocity
model containing 10 000 par-
ticles can be run rapidlyÐin a
matter of minutes to an hour
or two on a personal compu-
ter costing $2000. A model
containing 100 000, three-
dimensional particles can
take from several hours to
several days, depending on
the properties and displace-
ments required. Thus, the ®rst
model can be classed as `easy'
and the second as `hard'Ðbut
feasible if an important pro-
ject requires such effort. Table
1 provides estimates for the
numbers of particles that may
be used in both models in 10
and 20 years' time.

The column `equivalent con-

tinuum elements' contains
suggestions for the number of
elements in a continuum cal-
culation that are equivalent
to the given number of parti-
cles, assuming that 1000
particles (6000 degrees of
freedom) are suf®cient to
resolve the constitutive beha-
Fig. 4. Transient state of a tensile test on the bonded-particle model. Black lines denote broken
viour of a single element. bonds, orange lines denote tensile forces and green lines denote compressive forces
Apparently, in ten years, par-

Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1 Numerical modelling in geomechanics Cundall 45

 ticle models should be able to
do what continuum models
do now, without the need for
complicated constitutive
models. In 20 years it should
be possible to model almost
anything with particle assem-
blies. It should be noted that
`simple' particle schemes are
excluded, such as smoothed
y particle hydrodynamics and
cellular automata, which omit
shear and spin response,
among other things. These
schemes would be able to
represent at least ten times
x the number of particles or
cells noted in Table 1, but it is
believed that many important
mechanisms are omitted from
such models.

7. CONCLUSIONS
Particle simulations are often
regarded as intellectually
unsatisfying compared to ele-
gant and simple continuum
formulations. However, in
solving practical problems,
the situation may be reversed.
Continuum formulations can
become overloaded with ad
hoc assumptions and para-
Fig. 5. Cracks calculated to form around the URL Mine-by tunnel in granite. Each line denotes a meter in¯ation, while particle
bond break. The major principal stress acts in the x direction, and the ratio of major to minor
principal stresses is about six11 formulations usually need
simple laws and few para-
meters to govern interactions
at the particle level. Even
though millions of particles
may be needed to simulate a
particular system, the metho-
dology is conceptually
simple. Complexity arises as
an emergent property of the
system, not as something
speci®ed by the programmer
or modeller.

The feasibility of modelling,

within a few years, entire
engineering structures (such
as dams, tunnels and founda-
tions) in rock and soil with
particle simulations has been
demonstrated. Two advan-
tages of this approach are
that complex stress±strain
behaviour is replaced by
much simpler particle beha-
viour, and that localised
Fig. 6. Close-up of the crown region of Fig. 5, in which compressive forces are depicted as dark-
blue lines, tensile forces as light-blue lines and cracks are drawn in red11 regions, such as fractures and
rupture zones, develop natu-

46 Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1 Numerical modelling in geomechanics Cundall

rally as part of the simulation. In `payment' for these bene®ts,
time must be spent calibrating the synthetic material and
learning how various micro-structures affect the overall
behaviour. Even though routine particle simulations of impor-
tant engineering sites are still some years in the future, the task
of building knowledge bases should be started now in order to
be prepared for the time when computing power becomes
suf®cient to support such simulations.
REFERENCES
1. CUNDALL P. A. A computer model for simulating progres-
sive, large-scale movements in blocky rock systems.
Proceedings of an International Symposium on Rock
Fracture, Nancy, 1971, p. II-8.
2. BURMAN B. C. A Numerical Approach to the Mechanics
of Discontinua. PhD thesis, James Cook University of
N. Queensland, 1971.
3. RODRIGUEZ-ORTIZ J. M. Estudio del Comportamiento de
Medios Granulares Heterogeneos Mediante Modelos Dis-
continuos AnaloÂgicos y MathemaÂticos. PhD thesis, Univer-
sidad PoliteÂcnica de Madrid, 1974.
4. CUNDALL P. A. and HART R. D. Numerical modeling of
discontinua. In Comprehensive Rock Engineering (Hudson J.
A. (ed.)). Pergamon, Oxford, 1994, vol. 2, pp. 231±243.
5. CUNDALL P. A. and STRACK O. D. L. A discrete numerical
model for granular assemblies. GeÂotechnique, 1979, 29,
47±65.
6. HART R., CUNDALL P. and LEMOS J. Formulation of a three-
dimensional distinct element modelÐPart II: Mechanical
calculations for motion and interaction of a system
composed of many polyhedral blocks. International Journal
of Rock Mechanics, Mining Sciences and Geomechanical
Abstracts, 1988, 25, 117±126.
7. POTYONDY D. O., CUNDALL P. A. and LEE C. A. Modeling rock
using bonded assemblies of circular particles. Proceedings
of the 2nd N. American Rock Mechanics Symposium,
Montreal, 1996.
8. ITASCA CONSULTING GROUP, INC. PFC2D (Particle Flow Code in
two dimensions), version 2.0, 1999.
9. ITASCA CONSULTING GROUP, INC. PFC3D (Particle Flow Code in
three dimensions), version 2.0, 1999.
10. READ R. S. and MARTIN C. D. Technical Summary of AECL's
Mine-by Experiment, Phase 1: Excavation Response.
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, February 1996, Report
AECL-11311, COG-95±171.
11. POTYONDY D. and CUNDALL P. Modelling of Notch Formation
in the URL Mine-by Tunnel: Phase IVÐEnhancements to the
PFC Model of Rock. Report No. 06819-REP-01200±10002-
R00, Ontario Hydro, March 1999, available from Ontario
Power Generation Inc., Toronto, Canada, MSG IX6.
12. KURZWEIL R. The Age of Spiritual Machines. Viking, 1999.

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Geotechnical Engineering 149 Issue 1 Numerical modelling in geomechanics Cundall 47