Abstract

The effects of rock shape and initial orientation on the rockfall phenomena are studied using a two-dimensional polygonal discrete element method (DEM). In the simulation, rock particles with the same mass but different shapes are dropped from the same height onto a straight slope to investigate the variations in both translational and rotational kinetic energies and the runout distance. Parametric studies under varied angularity and aspect ratio of the rock revealed a significant effect of rock shape and initial orientation on the runout distance.