A numerical study of the stress distribution in hopper flow

Abstract

The stress distributions of granular flow in a cylindrical hopper with flat bottom are investigated by means of a combined approach of discrete element method (DEM) and averaging method. The filling and discharge of the hopper flow are first simulated at a particle level by means of a modified DEM. The results are then used to determine the velocity and stress profiles of the hopper flow by means of an averaging method. The analysis is focused on a central section plane of the hopper due to the relatively perfect axial symmetry. The velocity profiles are illustrated to be consistent with those obtained by the previous experiments, confirming the validity of the proposed approach. The distributions of four components of the planar stress tensor at different heights are quantified. It is shown that the vertical normal stress increases with increasing the height near the central axis, the horizontal normal stress varies more slowly at a higher level and is almost constant when the height is equal to or greater than about 12 particle diameter, and the magnitudes of two shear stresses are equal at the central zone of the hopper but not so at the points near the walls. The dependence of stress distributions on the wall mechanical properties such as sliding resistance and rolling resistance is also discussed.