Granular packing: numerical simulation and the characterisation of the effect of particle shape. (English) Zbl 1258.74040

Guises, Romain; Xiang, Jiansheng; Latham, John-Paul; Munjiza, Antonio

Granul. Matter 11, No. 5, 281-292 (2009).

Summary: The packing of granular particles is investigated using a combined finite-discrete element approach. One of the aims of this paper is to present an application of a recently improved numerical simulation technique for deformable granular material with arbitrary shapes. Our study is focused on the influence of the effect of the particle shape on (1) the emergent properties of a granular pack (packing density, coordination number, force distribution), and on (2) the spatial distribution of the stress. A set of simulations that mimick the sedimentation process is carried out, with varying input parameters, such as contact friction and particle shape. It is shown that the eccentricity of the particles not only significantly influences the final density of the pack but also the distribution of the stress and the contact forces. The presence of surface friction increases the amount of disorder within the granular system. Stress heterogeneities and force chain patterns propagate through the particles more efficiently than for the frictionless systems. The results also suggest that for the monodisperse systems investigated the coordination number is one of the factors that controls the distribution of the stress within a granular medium.

MSC:

74E20	Granularity
74S30	Other numerical methods in solid mechanics (MSC2010)
74S05	Finite element methods applied to problems in solid mechanics

Keywords:

granular matter; packing; discrete element method; finite element method; force chains

References:

[1]	Cleary P.W., Sawley M.L.: Dem modelling of industrial granular flows: 3d case studies and the effect of particle shape on hopper discharge. Appl. Math. Model. 26(2), 89–111 (2002) · Zbl 1018.76033
[2]	Coppersmith S.N., Liu Ch., Majumdar S., Narayan O., Witten T.A.: Model for force fluctuations in bead packs. Phys. Rev. E 53(5), 4673 (1996)
[3]	Cundall P., Strack O.: A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies. Geotechnique 29, 47 (1979)
[4]	Donev A., Cisse I., Sachs D., Variano E.A., Stillinger F.H., Connelly R., Torquato S., Chaikin P.M.: Improving the density of jammed disordered packings using ellipsoids. Science 303(5660), 990–993 (2004)
[5]	Geng J., Howell D., Longhi E., Behringer R.P., Reydellet G., Vanel L., Clément E., Luding S.: Footprints in sand: the response of a granular material to local perturbations. Phys. Rev. Lett. 87(3), 035,506 (2001)
[6]	Gethin D.T., Yang X.S., Lewis R.W.: A two dimensional combined discrete and finite element scheme for simulating the flow and compaction of systems comprising irregular particulates. Comput. Methods Appl. Mech. Eng. 195(41–43), 5552–5565 (2006) · Zbl 1128.74043
[7]	Latham J.P., Munjiza A.: The modelling of particle systems with real shapes. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 362, 1953–1972 (1822). doi: 10.1098/rsta.2004.1425 · Zbl 1205.74025
[8]	Latham J.-P., Munjiza A., Garcia X., Xiang J., Guises R.: Three-dimensional particle shape acquisition and use of shape library for DEM and FEM/DEM simulation. Miner. Eng. 21(11), 797–805 (2008)
[9]	Lian G., Thornton C., Adams M.J.: Discrete particle simulation of agglomerate impact coalescence. Chem. Eng. Sci. 53(19), 3381–3391 (1998)
[10]	Majmudar T.S., Behringer R.P.: Contact force measurements and stress-induced anisotropy in granular materials. Nature 435(1079), 1079–1082 (2005)
[11]	Mueth D.M., Jaeger H.M., Nagel S.R.: Force distribution in a granular medium. Phys. Rev. E 57(3), 3164 (1998)
[12]	Munjiza A.: The Combined Finite-Discrete Element Method. Wiley, New York (2004) · Zbl 1194.74452
[13]	Munjiza A., Andrews K.R.F.: NBS contact detection algorithm for bodies of similar size. Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 43(1), 131–149 (1998) · Zbl 0937.74079
[14]	Munjiza A., Andrews K.R.F.: Penalty function method for combined finite-discrete element systems comprising large number of separate bodies. Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng. 49(11), 1377–1396 (2000) · Zbl 1010.74067
[15]	Ostojic S., Somfai E., Nienhuis B.: Scale invariance and universality of force networks in static granular matter. Nature 439(7078), 828–830 (2006)
[16]	Radjai F., Jean M., Moreau J.J., Roux S.: Force distributions in dense two-dimensional granular systems. Phys. Rev. Lett. 77(2), 274 (1996)
[17]	Roux J.N.: Geometric origin of mechanical properties of granular materials. Phys. Rev. E 61(6), 6802 (2000)
[18]	Silbert L.E., Grest G.S., Landry J.W.: Statistics of the contact network in frictional and frictionless granular packings. Phys. Rev. E 66(6), 061,303 (2002) · Zbl 1185.76343
[19]	Thornton C., Antony S.J.: Quasi-static deformation of particulate media. Philos. Trans. R. Soc. A Math. Phys. Eng. Sci. 356(1747), 2763–2782 (1998). doi: 10.1098/rsta.1998.0296 · Zbl 0921.73020
[20]	Williams J., Pentland A.: Super-quadrics and modal dynamics for discrete elements in interactive design. Eng. Comput. Int. J. Comput. Aided Eng. 9, 115–127 (1992)
[21]	Wouterse, A., Williams, S.R., Philipse, A.P.: Effect of particle shape on the density and microstructure of random packings. J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 19 406215, 14pp (2007). doi: 10.1088/0953-8984/19/40/406215
[22]	Xiang, X., Munjiza, A., Latham, J.P., Guises, R.: Effect of particle shape on the density and microstructure of random packings. Eng. Comput. (2008, submitted) · Zbl 1258.74040
[23]	Zuriguel I., Mullin T., Rotter J.M.: Effect of particle shape on the stress dip under a sandpile. Phys. Rev. Lett. 98(2), 028,001–028,004 (2007)