Breaking down brittle fragmentation: gaining theoretical insight through simulation

Under large stresses, brittle solids crack and fracture into granular fragments. These fragments continue breaking down with further loading in a process known as comminution that is relevant to many fields including mining, manufacturing, and geophysics. Using a minimal bonded particle model, we explore the dynamics of fragmentation and characterize the evolving distribution of granular masses and population balance statistics. We find this distribution is described by a power-law with a cutoff that increases as a power of both decreasing strain rate and increasing system size. By constructing a new scaling theory, we measure multiple exponents that characterize this behavior. Finally, we discuss extensions of the model to calibrate material properties and how these changes affect fragmentation.

Sandia National Laboratories is a multi-mission laboratory managed and operated by National Technology and Engineering Solutions of Sandia, LLC., a wholly owned subsidiary of Honeywell International, Inc., for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration under contract DE-NA-0003525.