A Novel Continuous-Discontinuous Deformation Analysis for Full-Process Rock Fracture Modeling with Dynamic Contacts and Data-Driven Constitutive

Nonlinear behavior in continuum, brittle fracturing, and afterwards large displacements are ubiquitous in disaster prevention but remain significant challenges for numerical simulations, which entail accurate nonlinear constitutive, continuum-discontinuum transition, and dynamic contacts between discrete blocks. This study proposes a novel continuous–discontinuous deformation analysis (CDDA) method for full-process rock fracture modeling. First, a data-driven double-minimization iterative solver is developed to replace the conventional linear elastic constitutive in DDA. This solver directly employs experimental stress–strain data to predict constitutive responses, thereby reproducing nonlinear material behavior while minimizing the difference from experimental information. Second, the transition from continuous to discontinuous deformation is achieved through the sub-block method and artificial joints. Third, a global direct search (GDS) algorithm is incorporated to address complex contact interactions with enhanced robustness under dynamic conditions. The proposed approach is validated through several numerical examples, including indoor experiments and real landslides. The CDDA successfully reproduces the nonlinear deformation, failure process, and dynamic contacts during large displacements. The results corroborate that CDDA is promising for full process analysis to study disaster prevention and can be further developed for a broad scope of applications.