Behavior Of Non-spherical Particles Research Articles

NURBS-based DEM for non-spherical particles

The discrete element method (DEM) is used to analyze complex practical granular systems; however, the representation of real shapes is an important consideration because behavior of non-spherical particles is unlike that of spherical particles both individually and collectively. In this study, we use non-uniform rational basis-splines (NURBS) to describe the shapes of non-spherical particles and introduce a contact detection scheme based on quadratic convergence, to simulate the behaviors of elliptical particles. The simulation results are compared with those based on polygons, in terms of the shape description and contact treatment, to demonstrate the high accuracy and efficiency of NURBS-based DEM.

Experimental study on orientation and de-mixing phenomena of elongated particles in gas-fluidized beds

In this experimental study the segregation behavior for fluidized mixtures of spherical and cylindrical particles is investigated. In industry, fluidization of particles featuring a wide range of shapes is common in various applications such as biomass gasification, drying applications, food processing and production of pharmaceuticals. Earlier publications have mainly focused on segregation of spherical particles of different volume or density. The particles used in this study have equal volume and density but a different shape. The main purpose of this work is to study de-mixing driven by particle shape.To analyze the particle distributions inside the fluidized bed, a Digital Image Analysis (DIA) technique has been developed, capable of capturing the particle positions and orientations within the bed over time. The experiments show that in the non-bubbling flow regime (at low fluidization velocities) rod-shaped particles may segregate, sinking to the bottom of the bed. In the bubbling flow regime (at higher fluidization velocities) segregation does not occur, because of bubble-induced mixing. Here strong alignment of the cylindrical particle's long axis with the flow is observed. The experimental results obtained give qualitative and quantitative insight in the behavior of non-spherical particles in fluidized beds and can be used for validation of numerical models concerning non-spherical particle mixing.

Four-way coupled simulations of small particles in turbulent channel flow: The effects of particle shape and Stokes number

This paper investigates the effects of particle shape and Stokes number on the behaviour of non-spherical particles in turbulent channel flow. Although there are a number of studies concerning spherical particles in turbulent flows, most important applications occurring in process, energy, and pharmaceutical industries deal with non-spherical particles. The computation employs a unique and novel four-way coupling with the Lagrangian point-particle approach. The fluid phase at low Reynolds number (Reτ = 150) is modelled by direct numerical simulation, while particles are tracked individually. Inter-particle and particle-wall collisions are also taken into account. To explore the effects of particles on the flow turbulence, the statistics of the fluid flow such as the fluid velocity, the terms in the turbulence kinetic energy equation, the slip velocity between the two phases and velocity correlations are analysed considering ellipsoidal particles with different inertia and aspect ratio. The results of the simulations show that the turbulence is considerably attenuated, even in the very dilute regime. The reduction of the turbulence intensity is predominant near the turbulence kinetic energy peak in the near wall region, where particles preferentially accumulate. Moreover, the elongated shape of ellipsoids strengthens the turbulence attenuation. In simulations with ellipsoidal particles, the fluid-particle interactions strongly depend on the orientation of the ellipsoids. In the near wall region, ellipsoids tend to align predominantly within the streamwise (x) and wall-normal (y) planes and perpendicular to the span-wise direction, whereas no preferential orientation in the central region of the channel is observed. Important conclusions from this work include the effective viscosity of the flow is not affected, the direct dissipation by the particles is negligible, and the primary mechanism by which the particles affect the flow is by altering the turbulence structure around the turbulence kinetic energy peak.

The behaviour of non-spherical particles near a cylindrical sampling head

The behaviour of non-spherical particles near a cylindrical sampling head