DEM simulation of mechanical arcs in granular flow

Abstract

Numerical methods are an important tool in engineering as they allow the approximate resolution of problems that do not have exact analytical solution. Recently, several research fields, including geomechanics, engineering, chemistry, physics and applied mathematics, have shown a renewed interest in accurately modeling the granular materials, and examining both the break, flow and deformation. The two main lines of research are continuous mechanical approach and, in contrast, the discrete mechanical approach. This work will focus the discrete approach, from real data flow test in a silo with crushed gneiss, we perform numerical simulation tests, with the discrete element method, using the PFC2D software. This back analysis elucidated some questions about constitutive properties of the studied material and their behavior during the granular flow, which allowed from a few experimental data, reproduce reasonably the physical phenomenon in question. The simulated granular flow has a difference of less than 5% for the finer size fraction which was tested.