Numerical Study on Movement of Iron Concentrate in a Cargo Hold Based on Discrete Element Method

Abstract

Taking the cargo hold from a 57000 DWT bulk carrier as an example, the movement of iron concentrate particles in the cargo hold was simulated by using the discrete element software EDEM. The effect of water content on the movement of the cargo is replaced by variation of the particle’s friction coefficient. Considering the friction coefficient, particle size grading, particle collision recovery coefficient, rolling amplitude of cargo hold and cargo loading depth, 11 working conditions were designed and simulated. Results show that the decrease of friction coefficient, the increase of rolling amplitude and the loading capacity would aggravate the overall shift of the center of gravity of the cargos. In the case of the same loading depth, the more particles, the stronger the particle collision. And the collision recovery coefficient has little effect on the movement of particles.