Explicit Finite Element Simulation of Granular Flow in an Annular Shear Cell

Author(s):  
M. A. Kabir ◽  
C. F. Higgs ◽  
M. R. Lovell ◽  
V. Jasti ◽  
M. C. Marinack

Explicit finite element method modeling of granular flow behavior in an annular shear cell has been studied and presented in this paper. The explicit finite element method (FEM) simulations of granular flow in an annular shear cell with around 1633 particles were performed, where the inner wheel rotated at a very high speed and the outer disk remained stationary. The material properties of the particles and the outer wheel were defined as elastic steel whereas the inner wheel was elastic aluminum. In this investigation, the explicit FEM model mimicked granular flow in an experimental set up where the inner wheel was rotated at a speed of 240 rpm. The FEM results for shearing motion and solid fraction were compared with experimental results from a granular shear cell.

Author(s):  
M. A. Kabir ◽  
C. F. Higgs ◽  
M. R. Lovell

Granular flow behavior is of fundamental interest to the engineering and scientific community because of the prevalence of these flows in the pharmaceutical, agricultural, food service, and powder manufacturing industries. When granular media come under external load, inter-particle forces in the granular media form an inhomogeneous distribution. In this study, a simulation of the contact forces in granular media was carried out using an explicit finite element method on a biaxial cell of approximately 2500 particles. Some of the key results included the capturing of normal force and tangential force distributions within a granular shear cell.


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