DEM: Shear zones 3. Deformation of a material with inclusions: The effect of material strength

The media is 400x35 units, containing 43,565 circular elements with varying radii between 0.25 and 0.5 unit. It has circular boundary conditions so that an element on a boundary in x experiences a force from elements on the opposing boundary and considers them to be neighbouring elements.

The media contains a matrix (70% total bonds) and 250 inclusions (30% total bonds) with radii <4.0 units. The number of inclusions, their maximum radii, their breaking strain, and the random number to define inclusion location are constant. </p> <p>A zone of weakness is created (y=16.5-18.5) in which 45% of the bonds between elements in the matrix are broken. Experiments run for 400,000 timesteps with a displacement at the boundary plates of 0.00025 unit/ts. </p> <p>Outputs in the movies are every unit of displacement.