University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School 5-4-2007 Modeling Three-Dimensional Shape of Sand Grains Using Discrete Element Method Nivedita Das University of South Florida Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the American Studies Commons Scholar Commons Citation Das, Nivedita, "Modeling Three-Dimensional Shape of Sand Grains Using Discrete Element Method" (2007). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/689 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Modeling Three-Dimensional Shape of Sand Grains Using Discrete Element Method by Nivedita Das A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering College of Engineering University of South Florida Co-Major Professor: Alaa K. Ashmawy, Ph.D. Co-Major Professor: Sudeep Sarkar, Ph.D. Manjriker Gunaratne, Ph.D. Beena Sukumaran, Ph.D. Abla M. Zayed, Ph.D. Date of Approval: May 4, 2007 Keywords: Fourier transform, spherical harmonics, shape descriptors, skeletonization, angularity, roundness, liquefaction, overlapping discrete element cluster © Copyright 2007, Nivedita Das DEDICATION To my parents..... ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank my doctoral committee members – Dr. Alaa Ashmawy, Dr. Sudeep Sarkar, Dr. Manjriker Gunaratne, Dr. Abla Zayed and Dr. Beena Sukumaran for their insights and suggestions that have immensely contributed in improving the quality of this dissertation.