Discrete and continuum modelling of granular flow--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Zhu, H. P., Wu, Y. H., & Yu, A. B. (2005). Discrete and continuum modelling of granular flow. China Particuology, 3(6), 354-363. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1672-2515(07)60215-2

Discrete and continuum modelling of granular flow

H.P. Zhu ^a, Y.H. Wu ^b, A.B. Yu ^a *

a Centre for Simulation and Modelling of Particulate Systems, School of Materials Science and Engineering, the University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
b Department of Mathematics and Statistics, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA 6845, Australia

10.1016/S1672-2515(07)60215-2

Volume 3, Issue 6, December 2005, Pages 354-363

Received 2 November 2005, Accepted 10 November 2005, Available online 27 November 2007.

E-mail: a.yu@unsw.edu.au

Highlights

Abstract

This paper analyses three popular methods simulating granular flow at different time and length scales: discrete element method (DEM), averaging method and viscous, elastic-plastic continuum model. The theoretical models of these methods and their applications to hopper flows are discussed. It is shown that DEM is an effective method to study the fundamentals of granular flow at a particle or microscopic scale. By use of the continuum approach, granular flow can also be described at a continuum or macroscopic scale. Macroscopic quantities such as velocity and stress can be obtained by use of such computational method as FEM. However, this approach depends on the constitutive relationship of materials and ignores the effect of microscopic structure of granular flow. The combined approach of DEM and averaging method can overcome this problem. The approach takes into account the discrete nature of granular materials and does not require any global assumption and thus allows a better understanding of the fundamental mechanisms of granular flow. However, it is difficult to adapt this approach to process modelling because of the limited number of particles which can be handled with the present computational capacity, and the difficulty in handling non-spherical particles. Further work is needed to develop an appropriate approach to overcome these problems.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

granular flow; hopper flow; discrete element method; average method; continuum approach

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