Fast spot-based multiscale simulations of granular drainage
Author(s)
Rycroft, Chris H.; Wong, Yee Lok; Bazant, Martin Z.
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We develop a multiscale simulation method for dense granular drainage, based on the recently proposed spot model, where the particle packing flows by local collective displacements in response to diffusing “spots” of interstitial free volume. By comparing with discrete-element method (DEM) simulations of 55,000 spheres in a rectangular silo, we show that the spot simulation is able to approximately capture many features of drainage, such as packing statistics, particle mixing, and flow profiles. The spot simulation runs two to three orders of magnitude faster than DEM, making it an appropriate method for real-time control or optimization. We demonstrate extensions for modeling particle heaping and avalanching at the free surface, and for simulating the boundary layers of slower flow near walls. We show that the spot simulations are robust and flexible, by demonstrating that they can be used in both event-driven and fixed timestep approaches, and showing that the elastic relaxation step used in the model can be applied much less frequently and still create good results.
Date issued
2010-01Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering; Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of MathematicsJournal
Powder Technology
Publisher
Elsevier
Citation
Rycroft, Chris H., Yee Lok Wong, and Martin Z. Bazant. “Fast spot-based multiscale simulations of granular drainage.” Powder Technology 200.1-2 (2010): 1-11.
Version: Author's final manuscript
ISSN
0032-5910
Keywords
granular materials, numerical methods