Numerical investigation of granular flow similarity in rotating drums--颗粒学报PARTICUOLOGY

Qi, H., Xu, J., Zhou, G., Chen, F., Ge, W., & Li, J. (2015). Numerical investigation of granular flow similarity in rotating drums. Particuology, 22, 119-127. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.partic.2014.10.012

Numerical investigation of granular flow similarity in rotating drums

Huabiao Qi^{a b}, Ji Xu^a, Guangzheng Zhou ^a *, Feiguo Chen^a, Wei Ge^a *, Jinghai Li^a

a State Key Laboratory of Multiphase Complex Systems, Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
b University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China

10.1016/j.partic.2014.10.012

Volume 22, October 2015, Pages 119-127

Received 11 March 2014, Revised 29 September 2014, Accepted 20 October 2014, Available online 12 March 2015, Version of Record 4 August 2015.

E-mail: gzzhou@ipe.ac.cn; wge@ipe.ac.cn

Highlights

• Similarity of velocity fields in rotating drums was evaluated via GPU-based DEM simulations.

• The particle-to-drum size ratio had a dominant effect in determining velocity field.

• Sliding friction coefficient and Young's modulus had relatively larger impact than other factors.

Abstract

The theory of flow similarity has not been well established for granular flows, in contrast to the case for conventional fluids, owing to a lack of reliable and general constitutive laws for their continuum description. A rigorous investigation of the similarity of velocity fields in different granular systems would be valuable to theoretical studies. However, experimental measurements face technological and physical problems. Numerical simulations that employ the discrete element method (DEM) may be an alternative to experiments by providing similar results, where quantitative analysis could be implemented with virtually no limitation. In this study, the similarity of velocity fields is investigated for the rolling regime of rotating drums by conducting simulations based on the DEM and using graphics processing units. For a constant Froude number, it is found that the particle-to-drum size ratio plays a dominant role in the determination of the velocity field, while the velocity field is much more sensitive to some material properties than to others. The implications of these findings are discussed in terms of establishing theoretical similarity laws for granular flows.

Graphical abstract

Keywords

Discrete element method; Granular flow; Similarity; Rotating drum; Scale up; Graphics processing unit

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