Discrete element simulation of foam concrete under uniaxial compression considering non-spherical pores

In order to study the fitness of discrete element method (DEM) in the simulation of mechanical properties of foam concrete and the influence of non-spherical pores on the uniaxial compression characteristics of foam concrete, X-ray computed tomography (X-CT) test and uniaxial compression-acoustic emission joint test were carried out on foamed concrete with density of 500 kg/m³. Based on the measured pore structure characteristics, a series of three-dimensional mesoscopic DEM models with different non-spherical particle proportions were established and the uniaxial compression process was simulated. The results show that the uniaxial compression damage process of the model is basically consistent with the acoustic emission test results, which has obvious stage characteristics. The non-spherical particle discrete element model can characterize the oscillation of the stress-strain curve in the initial compaction stage, and simulate the shear and interlocking of the matrix in the stress dissipation stage. When establishing the discrete element model of foam concrete, the influence of pore shape should be considered. The compressive strength of the DEM model decreases linearly with the increase of the non-spherical rate of the pores in the model while the correlation coefficient is 0.94.