Methods for Prediction of Electromagnetic Interaction of Non-spherical Granular Materials
Abstract
Granular flows are prevalent throughout many industrial, agriculture, defense and environmental applications. Given the complexity and ubiquity of granular media, numerical simulation has become a valuable tool in analyzing granular phenomena with the Discrete Element Method (DEM) being one of the most popular and successful techniques. Advances in DEM have resulted in the representation of complex granular physics such as particle cohesion, particle breakage, coupled fluid/granular phenomena and non-spherical particle collisions. Research into the interaction of electromagnetic (EM) forces with granular materials, however, has been relatively limited with particles represented as points or spheres with uniform prescribed magnetic properties and charge distributions. Such highly idealized models are not representative of the system behavior for realistic industrial applications, particularly when particle shape is considered. The objective of this research is to develop new coupled methods to predict the response of moving magnetic, paramagnetic and non-magnetic granular materials which are suitable for large scale simulation of industrial processes such as separation, grinding and printer toner motion. This will result in a capability to model both the dynamic response of the granular media to the EM fields and the perturbation of the EM fields by the granular material when the material has non-spherical shape and non-uniform material properties. Simulating this complex inter-dependence will be achieved by creating a coupled DEM and finite element method (FEM) solver in a multi-pole framework. In this computational approach, exterior EM fields generated by dynamic environments (such as machinery) will be modelled using FEM. The interaction between these EM fields and the non-spherical particles will be represented using closure models analogous to multiphase fluid drag laws. A fast multi-pole method will also be used to predict the long-range EM interactions resulting from far-field particles. This more realistic multi-scale representation will provide greater breadth of application and much higher accuracy in predicting the response of granular media in electromagnetic fields.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jan 04, 2023
- Source ID
- FA23862114100
Entities
People
- Sharen Cummins
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
- United States Air Force