Contact model for elastically anisotropic bodies and efficient implementation into the discrete-element method

We introduce a contact law for the normal force generated between two contacting, elastically anisotropic bodies of arbitrary geometry. The only requirement is that their surfaces be smooth and frictionless. This anisotropic contact law is obtained from a simplification of the exact solution to the continuum elasticity problem and takes the familiar form of Hertz contact law, with the only difference being the orientation-dependence of the material-specific contact modulus. The contact law is remarkably accurate when compared with the exact solution, for a wide range of materials and surface geometries. We describe a computationally efficient implementation of the contact law into a discrete element method code, taking advantage of the precomputation of the contact modulus over all possible orientations. Finally, we showcase two application examples based on real materials where elastic anisotropy of the particles induces noticeable effects on macroscopic behavior. Notably, the second example demonstrates the ability to engineer tunable vibrational band gaps in a one-dimensional granular crystal by mere rotation of the constituent spherical particles.