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Numerical study of the packing of wet coarse uniform spheres
Author(s) -
Yang R. Y.,
Zou R. P.,
Yu A. B.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
aiche journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.958
H-Index - 167
eISSN - 1547-5905
pISSN - 0001-1541
DOI - 10.1002/aic.690490706
Subject(s) - spheres , discrete element method , capillary action , porosity , atomic packing factor , mechanics , materials science , hard spheres , yield (engineering) , radial distribution function , sphere packing , water content , particle (ecology) , porous medium , mathematics , composite material , physics , chemistry , molecular dynamics , thermodynamics , crystallography , geotechnical engineering , engineering , geology , oceanography , quantum mechanics , astronomy
Abstract The discrete‐element method was extended to investigate the effect of liquid addition on the packing of monosized spheres. By explicitly taking into account the interaction forces between particles, such as contact forces and capillary force, the packing of wet spheres can be simulated by the method. Simulations are performed under the so‐called poured packing, where a different amount of water is added to spheres of different sizes. Comparison with data in the literature shows that the simulations yield a satisfactory agreement in the relationship between porosity and moisture content, macroscopically verifying the proposed model. The packing structure is then analyzed in terms of microscopic properties such as the radial distribution function and coordination number and are shown to vary with liquid content for a given particle size. The relationship between porosity and capillary force is finally quantified, which confirms those derived based on macroscopic assumptions.