Discrete element simulation of the behavior of bulk granular material during truck braking

Abstract

PurposeTo simulate the dynamic feature of bulk granular material (such as agricultural products) during sudden braking of a truck by applying discrete element method.Design/methodology/approachThe bulk granular material was modeled by the discrete element approach, in which the spherical elements were used to represent the granular particles; the interaction between two in‐adhesive particles was modeled by Hertz for normal interaction, and by Mindlin and Deresiewicz for tangential interaction; the interaction between two particles with adhesion was modeled by the JKR theory for normal interaction, and by Thornton's theory for the tangential interaction. Different initial conditions (braking speeds/accelerations) were considered. The dynamic system was numerically solved by the central difference based explicit time integration, and the dynamic impact forces were recorded to further analysis.FindingsThe computation predicted that the resultant dynamic force acting upon the front wall behaves in four stages, i.e. increasing, plateau, sharp increasing and drop with damped fluctuation. It was observed that, the shorter the breaking time is, the faster the force reaches its peak, and the greater the peak value is. The phenomenon was in good agreement with physical principals and common knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsIt is an application of the discrete element method and, therefore, no important contribution is made to advance the methodology.Practical implicationsThe proposed modeling approach may serve as a useful tool for advanced design of trucks.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to apply the advanced discrete element method to the problem concerned.