Discrete Element Method Investigation of Binary Granular Flows with Different Particle Shapes

Yi Liu, Zhaosheng Yu, Jiecheng Yang, Carl Wassgren, Jennifer Sinclair Curtis and Yu Guo
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Yi Liu: Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Zhaosheng Yu: Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China
Jiecheng Yang: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Carl Wassgren: School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA
Jennifer Sinclair Curtis: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA
Yu Guo: Department of Engineering Mechanics, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310027, China

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 7, 1-25

Abstract: The effects of particle shape differences on binary mixture shear flows are investigated using the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The binary mixtures consist of frictionless rods and disks, which have the same volume but significantly different shapes. In the shear flows, stacking structures of rods and disks are formed. The effects of the composition of the mixture on the stacking are examined. It is found that the number fraction of stacking particles is smaller for the mixtures than for the monodisperse rods and disks. For binary mixtures with small particle shape differences, the mixture stresses are bounded by the stresses of the two corresponding monodisperse systems. However, for binary mixtures with large particle shape differences, the stresses of the mixtures can be larger than the stresses of the monodisperse systems at large solid volume fractions because larger differences in particle shape cause geometrical interference in packing, leading to stronger particle–particle interactions in the flow. The stresses in dense binary mixtures are found to be exponential functions of the order parameter, which is a measure of particle alignment. Based on the simulation results, an empirical expression for the bulk friction coefficient (ratio of the shear stress to normal stress) for dense binary flows is proposed by accounting for the effects of particle alignment and solid volume fraction.

Keywords: granular shear flow; binary mixture of different particle shapes; particle-phase stress; particle stacking and ordering; discrete element method (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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