The influence of particle shape on crushing pattern and energy dissipation within a pressurized sand damper

Abstract

A discrete element method (DEM) model was introduced to examine the crushing pattern, energy dissipation, force–displacement curves, and stresses within a pressurized sand damper (PSD). Simulations were carried out with various particle shapes, including elongated, triangle, pyramid, cube, and hexagon. While monitoring the force–displacement curves, it was observed that the hexagon-shaped particles yielded the highest forces, while the triangle-shaped particles resulted in the lowest forces. Altering the particle shapes did not significantly impact the overall shape of the force–displacement curves, suggesting that dynamic force generation remains unaffected by the particle shape. Particle crushing was closely examined for all particle shapes, and it was concluded that all shapes exhibit relatively similar crushing locations and patterns. In the analysis of normal stress, hexagon- and elongated-shaped particles were found to experience the highest and lowest stresses, respectively. Observing the energy dissipation revealed that, among the shapes studied, triangle-shaped particles had the lowest cumulative dissipated energy over five loading-unloading cycles, whereas hexagon-shaped particles had the highest. The calculation of specific damping capacity showed a large loss angle, indicating the presence of large strains inside the model.