Granular contact dynamics with particle elasticity

A granular contact dynamics formulation for elastically deformable particles is detailed. The resulting scheme bears some similarity to traditional molecular dynamics schemes in that the consideration of a finite elastic contact stiffness implies the possibility for inter-particle penetration. However, in contrast to traditional molecular dynamics schemes, there are no algorithmic repercussions from operating with a large or, in the extreme case infinite, contact stiffness. Indeed, the algorithm used—a standard second-order cone programming solver—is independent of the particle scale model and is applicable to rigid as well as elastically deformable particles.