In September 2021, the first International Numerical Modeling Contest of Rock Mechanics and Engineering (INCR 2021) was successfully held. INCR 2021 was led by the Commission on Discontinuous Deformation Analysis of the International Society of Rock Mechanics (ISRM-DDA) and the Commission on Discontinuous Deformation Analysis of the Chinese Society of Rock Mechanics and Engineering (CSRME-DDA). INCR 2021 was sponsored by Tianjin University, China University of Geosciences, Nanjing University, and Hebei University of Technology. The contest aims to provide a platform for the experiment and numerical reconstruction of rock mechanics problems, to conduct open, transparent, and extensive verification of existing numerical methods and software of rock mechanics problems, and to promote the application of numerical simulation in rock mechanics and engineering.

Since its launch in April, INCR 2021 has attracted extensive attention from the academic community. INCR 2021 is open to worldwide full-time students, young scientific, and technological workers. The contest is organized in the form of unified proposition, online competition and online review. The contest is divided into two stages. A). calibrate parameters according to the compression test results of three rock samples, and B). predict the peak load and failure pattern of the specified samples. Totally 18 numerical results were submitted by contest teams from different institutions, including Sydney University, Monash University, Tsinghua University, Tongji University, Nanjing University, Tianjin University, Central South University, Northeast University, Southeast University, Dalian University of Technology, Shandong University, and Hebei University of Technology. The utilized numerical methods include finite element method, discrete element method, mixed finite element method, etc. The utilized numerical software includes DDA, LS-DYNA, 3DEC-GBM, MatDEM, PFC, MPPD, NMM, RFPA, UDEC, DBEM, CDEM, 4D-LSM. A group of rock mechanics experts were invited to evaluate the results from contest teams. Finally, ten teams won prizes and certificates in Problem A by their fine numerical results. Among them, the team from Dalian University of Technology established a three-dimensional model using RFPA, of which the result was the closest to the data from physical experiments, and hence won the first prize. Two outstanding numerical results from Tianjin University and Chinese University of Geoscience (Wuhan), which are based on 4D-LSM and 3D-DDA, respectively, can be found in the attachment of the page.

INCR2021 reflects the tendency of letting a hundred flowers blossom and a hundred schools of thought contend in the numerical simulation of rock mechanics and engineering. Moreover, INCR 2021 improves the numerical modeling technology and professionalism of the participants, strengthen the team spirit of the participants and creates a kind atmosphere for the vigorous development of numerical calculation methods and the prediction ability.

Team awards in INCR 2021

Member awards in INCR 2021