Thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation of three-dimensional large-scale non-isothermal problems

Purpose The main purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive upscale theory of the thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation for three-dimensional (3D) large-scale non-isothermal problems, so that a small 3D length-scale particle model can exactly reproduce the same mechanical and thermal results with that of a large 3D length-scale one. Design/methodology/approach The objective is achieved by following the scaling methodology proposed by Feng and Owen (2014). Findings After four basic physical quantities and their similarity-ratios are chosen, the derived quantities and its similarity-ratios can be derived from its dimensions. As the proposed comprehensive 3D upscale theory contains five similarity criteria, it reveals the intrinsic relationship between the particle-simulation solution obtained from a small 3D length-scale (e.g. a laboratory length-scale) model and that obtained from a large 3D length-scale (e.g. a geological length-scale) one. The scale invariance of the 3D interaction law in the thermo-mechanical coupled particle model is examined. The proposed 3D upscale theory is tested through two typical examples. Finally, a practical application example of 3D transient heat flow in a solid with constant heat flux is given to illustrate the performance of the proposed 3D upscale theory in the thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation of 3D large-scale non-isothermal problems. Both the benchmark tests and application example are provided to demonstrate the correctness and usefulness of the proposed 3D upscale theory for simulating 3D non-isothermal problems using the particle simulation method. Originality/value The paper provides some important theoretical guidance to modeling 3D large-scale non-isothermal problems at both the engineering length-scale (i.e. the meter-scale) and the geological length-scale (i.e. the kilometer-scale) using the particle simulation method directly.