Hancock, WR, Weatherley, DK & Chitombo, GP 2010, 'Large-scale simulations of gravity flow in block caving', in Y Potvin (ed.), Caving 2010: Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Block and Sublevel Caving, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, Perth, pp. 553-566, https://doi.org/10.36487/ACG_rep/1002_38_Hancock
(https://papers.acg.uwa.edu.au/p/1002_38_Hancock/)
Abstract: A parallel implementation of the discrete element method (DEM) capable of running on supercomputers has been used to study block caving flows at large scales. A short review of both physical and numerical models highlights the need for a well calibrated, physics based numerical model to supplant physical experimentation. The DEM code ESyS-Particle has been used in a validation study aimed at highlighting potential issues and limitations of such a model. Results show that ESyS-Particle is a suitable candidate for modelling caving flow and is within the range of reasonably expected flow regimes obtained from physical experiments using sand, crushed walnut shells and polypropylene pellets. Further to the validation study, in this paper we demonstrate the flexibility of numerical modelling by simulating both interactive draw and fines migration.