CFD Simulation of Soil Flow Over Augers
The modelling of soil as an engineering material is confined, in the most part, to the investigation of how it behaves under loading and unloading. A key assumption made in existing models is that the soil is similar in behaviour to a solid and is generally elastic-perfectly plastic and has a linear stress strain relationship. The rapid displacement of soil, such as flow, has been studied far less. The aim of this paper is to study such behaviour and present the initial results of the flow around a rotating auger assuming the soil acts as a fluid. These initial simulations rely on the governing equations of fluid flow assuming Newtonian viscosity. Although evidence points to soil not having constant coefficient of viscosity, this study and a further study by Tardos [1] shows that for loose soils with a low angle of internal friction, such as liquefied sand, the Newtonian viscosity is an acceptable assumption. The patterns of soil movement around the auger are shown over two different drilling tools. Visual and numerical results of soil movement are presented.