Particle Methods for Modelling Granular Material Flow

Sammanfattning: Granular materials are very abundant in nature and are often used in industry, wherethe dynamics of granular material ow is of relevance in many processes. There arestrong economic and environmental incentives for increased eciency in handling andtransporting granular materials. Despite being common, the mechanical behaviour ofgranular materials remains challenging to predict and a unifying theory describing granularmaterial ow does not exist. If the ambition is an ecient industrial handling ofgranular materials, increased knowledge and understanding of their behaviour is of utmostimportance. In the present thesis, particle-based numerical methods are used formodelling granular material ow. In this context, particle-based methods refer to the useof particles as a discretization unit in numerical methods. Particle-based modelling canbe divided in two main approaches: discrete and continuum. In a discrete approach, eachphysical particle in the granular mass is modelled as a discrete particle. Newton's secondlaw of motion combined with a contact model governs the behaviour of the granular mass.In a continuum approach, the granular material is modelled using a constitutive law relatingstresses and strains. As a discrete approach, the discrete element method (DEM) isused and as a continuum approach the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) methodand the particle nite element method (PFEM) are used. Furthermore, an experimentalmethodology able to capture the ow behaviour of granular materials is developed. Themethodology is based on digital image correlation and it is used to obtain the in-planevelocity eld for granular material ow. This thesis covers experimental measurementsand numerical modelling of granular material ow in a number of applications. In paperA, an experimental powder lling rig is used to study the ow of sand. With thisrig, a methodology for obtaining the in-plane velocity eld of a granular material ow isdeveloped. This methodology is applied in paper B, to quantify the ow of a tungstencarbide powder. The powder is modelled using the SPH method, with good agreementto experimental results. In paper C, the ow of potassium chloride fertilizers is modelledusing the SPH method, and in Paper D the PFEM is explored for modelling of granularmaterial ow. The numerical models are validated against experimental results, suchas in-plane velocity eld measurements. In paper E, coupled nite element, DEM andPFEM models are used to model the physical interactions of grinding media, slurry andmill structure and in a stirred media mill. The ndings in the present thesis support theestablishment of particle-based numerical methods for modelling granular material owin a number of dierent applications. Furthermore, a methodology for calibration andvalidation of numerical models is developed.