Damping Mode Adaptability and Benchmarks in Explicit Formulation of Discontinuous Deformation Analysis for Typical Geotechnical Scenarios

Appropriate choice of both damping mode and the associated damping coefficient significantly influence the stability, accuracy, and efficiency of the simulation results for geotechnical problems. However, in numerical analysis with explicit discontinuous deformation analysis (EDDA), appropriate damping settings for different geotechnical scenarios are rarely discussed. To seek optimized damping in EDDA for various scenarios, four types of damping, including viscous damping, contact damping, unbalanced force damping, and Rayleigh damping, are incorporated in the EDDA framework. The performance of these four types of damping for basic and multi‐block systems is compared through three representative scenarios, including quasi‐static contact, collision, and wave propagation. This study verified the adaptability of the four damping models in certain geotechnical scenarios and provided recommendations for mode selection and parameters setting based on findings from the benchmarking tests. This study on damping adaptability facilitates the application of EDDA in geotechnical problems towards a more accurate and more efficient simulation.