Thesis (PhD (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2004. / Granular flow occurs in a broad spectrum of industrial applications that range from separation and mixing in the pharmaceutical industry, to grinding and crushing, blasting, stockpile construction, flow in and from hoppers, silos, bins, and conveyer belts, agriculture, mining and earthmoving. Two totally different approaches of modelling granular flow are the Discrete Element Method (DEM) and continuum methods such as Finite Element Methods (FEM). Continuum methods can be divided into nonpolar or classic continuum methods and polar continuum methods. Large displacements are usually present during granular flow which, without remeshing, cannot be solved with standard finite element methods due to severe mesh distortion. The Particle-in-Cell (PIC) method, which is a so-called meshless method, eliminates this problem since all the state variables are traced by material points moving through a fixed mesh. The main goal of this research was to model the flow of noncohesive granular material in front of flat bulldozer blades and into excavator buckets using a continuum method. A PIC code was developed to model these processes under plane strain conditions. A contact model was used to model Coulomb friction between the material and the bucket/blade. Analytical solutions, published numerical and experimental results were used to validate the contact model and to demonstrate the code’s ability to model large displacements and deformations. The ability of both DEM and PIC to predict the forces acting on the blade and bucket and the material flow patterns were demonstrated. Shear bands that develop during the flow of material were investigated. As part of the PIC analyses, a comparison between classic continuum and polar continuum (Cosserat) results were made. This includes mesh size and orientation dependency, flow patterns and the forces acting on the blade and the bucket. It is concluded that the interaction of buckets and blades with granular materials can successfully be modelled with PIC. In the cases conducted here, the nonpolar continuum was more accurate than the polar continuum, but the polar continuum results were less dependent on the mesh size. The next step would be to apply this technology to solve industrial problems.

Thesis (PhD (Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The main research objective of this dissertation was to determine the performance parameters of particle dampers (PDs) under centrifugal loads. A test bench was developed consisting of a rotating cantilever beam with a PD at the tip. Equal mass containers with di erent depths, filled with a range of uniform sized steel ball bearings, were used as PDs. For all the tests, the total PD mass was identical. During operation the tip of the beam was displaced, and after release, the beam could vibrate freely. The decay in the vibratory motion of the tip of the beam was measured over a range of centrifugal loads. The experiments were duplicated numerically with a discrete element method (DEM) model, calibrated against the experimental data. This model could then be used for a more in-depth investigation of phenomena occurring when PDs are under centrifugal loads. From the data analysis, it can be concluded that there are two zones of damping, one with a high and one with a low damping factor. These damping zones depend on the ratio between the peak vibration acceleration and the centrifugal loading. Each zone has a limit in terms of the centrifugal loading beyond which the PD cannot function if the vibration amplitude is fixed. In the high damping zone, it was found that the excitation state of the particles was high enough for the system vibration frequency to change. In the low damping zone, there is only limited motion between the particles. The main parameters that influence the performance of the PDs are the friction between the particles themselves and with the container, the PD length/diameter aspect ratio, and the particle size. An important finding is that a PD with less layers (increase in particle size) will still function at a higher centrifugal load compared to one with a smaller number number of layers.

Grain shape is a key factor affecting the mechanical properties of granular materials. However, grain shape quantification techniques to distinguish one granular material from another have not reached a stage of development for inclusion in modeling the behavior of granular materials. Part of the problem is the equipment of choice for grain shape measurement is the scanning electron microscope. This is a relatively expensive and complex device. In this research, a practical approach using light microscopy to quantify grain shape and to identify the key shape parameters that can distinguish grains was investigated. A light microscope was found to produce grain images with sufficient quality for the purpose of observing the grain shape profile. Several grain shape parameters were determined for eight different sands - four sands chosen for this study and four sands from an outside source. Six of these - Circularity, Roundness, Sphericity, Aspect Ratio, Compactness and ModRatio - are shown to be the key shape parameters that differentiate these sand grains.Relationships between the six key grain shape parameters and dilatancy were developed to enable a better understanding of the mechanics of granular materials and for potential use in practice. Data to build the relationships were obtained using a light microscope, digital image processing software (ImageJ), and direct shear tests on four uniform sands composed of grains with varying, somewhat-homogeneous, shape profiles - ranging from very rounded grains in one granular conglomerate to very angular shaped grains in another.A Weighted Single Sand Shape Factor (WSSSF) was derived from all of the six key shape parameters was developed using Weighted Factor Analysis. A good correlation was found to exist between dilatancy and WSSSF. The correlation also incorporates normal effective stress, relative density and the critical state friction angle. Verification was conducted through the introduction of a subangular to subrounded sand that was not used in building the correlation. The correlation proved to provide a good estimate of the dilatancy of sands based on the physical properties of grains and the applied loading.

Characterization of the effect of physical properties on the performance such as stiffness and drainage of unbound granular materials is necessary in order to incorporate them in pavement design. The stiffness, deformation and permeability behaviour of unbound granular materials are the essential design inputs for Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide as well as empirical design methods. The performance based specifications are aimed to design, and construct a durable and cost effective material throughout the design life of a pavement. However, the specification varies among jurisdiction depending on the historical or current practice, locally available materials, landform, climate and drainage. A literature review on the current unbound granular materials virgin and recycled concrete aggregate base construction specification has been carried out in this study. Resilient modulus, permanent deformation and permeability tests have been carried out on seven gradations of materials from locally available sources. Resilient modulus stiffness of unbound granular material at two different conditioning stress level have been compared in the study. The long term deformation behaviour has also been characterized from results of the permanent deformation test using shakedown approach, dissipated energy approach and a simplified approach. The results show improvement in resilient modulus and permanent deformation for the proposed specification compared to the currently used materials as a results of reduced fines content, increased crush count and inclusion of larger maximum aggregate size into the gradation. A significant effect of particle packing on permeability of granular materials have also been found, in addition to the effect of fines. / October 2016

La fragmentation des matériaux est un phénomène qui entre en jeu dans de nombreux systèmes naturels et industriels, et à différentes échelles. D'un point de vue industriel, la fragmentation est d'une grande importance dans la production de granulats de carrière, qui sont soumis à des critères stricts en termes de tailles et de formes. Néanmoins, les phénomènes à l'origine de la fracture des matériaux restent encore aujourd'hui mal maîtrisés. Les méthodes aux éléments discrets permettent une modélisation des interactions à l'échelle de la microstructure du matériau. Un des avantages de ces méthodes est que la fissure apparaît et se propage dans l'empilement de manière naturelle, sans qu'il soit nécessaire de la décrire par modèles de fissuration.Un modèle aux éléments discrets permettant de représenter la cohésion au sein d'un matériau composé de particules de formes quelconques a été développé durant cette thèse. Des simulations numériques ont été effectuées pour deux types d'empilements représentant soit des matériaux cimentés, soit des matériaux “pleins”. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de confirmer que ce modèle est capable de reproduire le comportement macroscopique de la rupture de matériau fragile. Le modèle a été ensuite appliqué à l'étude de l'influence du positionnement de points de contact externes sur la résistance d'une particule cylindrique. Une étude expérimentale d'impact a été menée et a permis de confirmer ces résultats. Enfin, nous avons appliqué notre approche à la reconstruction de grains issus de données tomographiques. / The fragmentation of materials is a phenomenon which arises in several natural and industrial systems, and for a wide range of scales. From an industrial point of view, the crushing process is very important in the production of aggregates, which are often required to meet high criteria in terms of size and shape. However, the phenomena behind fracture of materials are still not completely understood. The discrete element methods allow to model interactions at the scale of the material micro-structure, by means of simple models. One of the advantages of this kind of methods is the natural way the crack initiates and propagates in the sample, without any need of a crack model. A discrete element model allowing to describe cohesion inside the material composed of particles of arbitrary shapes has been developed in this work. Numerical simulations have been conducted for two kinds of samples describing both cemented and plain materials. The results obtained have shown the ability of the numerical model to reproduce the macroscopic behavior of the fracture of a brittle material. The developed model has been applied to study the influence of the positioning of external contact points on the effective strength of a cylindrical shaped grain. The results have demonstrated an increase of the required force to break the grain depending on the position of the contacts. An experimental study has confirmed the numerical results. Finally, the model has been applied to the building of grains based on tomographic data.

Cette thèse a pour objet le développement d’un modèle de transport sédimentaire avec la méthode SPH (Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics). Si les modèles couramment proposés dans la littérature reposent sur un solveur hydrodynamique couplé à des lois semi-empiriques qui modélisent le transport sédimentaire, une approche différente est proposée ici. Dans le modèle proposé dans ce travail, la dynamique du sédiment est également résolue. Celui-ci est assimilé à un milieu continu dont la loi de comportement rend compte de la nature granulaire.Pour ce faire, le modèle élastique-viscoplastique d’Ulrich (2013) a été implémenté dans un code SPH préexistant programmé en langage Cuda, et amélioré du point de vue physico-numérique. Le comportement mécanique du sédiment dépend donc d’une contrainte de rupture déterminée conformément au critère de Drucker-Prager. Dans les zones du matériau où la rupture n’a pas eu lieu, les contraintes de cisaillement sont calculées selon la loi de Hooke généralisée. Dans les zones où la contrainte de rupture a été dépassée, le matériau est assimilé à un fluide rhéofluidifiant. Numériquement, la transition entre les deux états est opérée à l’aide d’une fonction de raccord qui dépend notamment du l’amplitude du taux de déformation et des propriétés granulaires du sédiment.L’eau et le sédiment sont modélisées comme deux phases immiscibles, dans le cadre d’une formulation SPH multi-phase. Pour ce faire, le modèle de Hu et Adams (2006) a été adapté aux modèles de conditions limites semi-analytiques (Ferrand, 2013). Enfin, un schéma d’intégration implicite des forces visqueuses a été développé dans ce contexte, afin d’améliorer les performances du solveur lors de modélisation d’écoulement à bas Reynolds.Plusieurs cas tests sont proposés pour valider le modèle multiphasique, le schéma implicite et le modèle élastique-viscoplastique. De manière générale, les résultats sont en bon accord avec les données expérimentales et analytiques. Le modèle permet de représenter des écoulements multi-fluide avec une bonne précision, même en présence de grand rapport de densité entre les phases. Il en va de même pour les écoulements de fluide non-newtonien et les écoulements à bas Reynolds, pour lesquels le schéma implicite conduit à des résultats très satisfaisants. Enfin, le modèle élastique-viscoplastique a été appliqué à divers cas d’écoulements granulaires, dans le cas d’un matériau sec et saturé, ainsi qu’à des cas d’érosion et d’affouillement. Là encore, les résultats sont globalement en bon accord avec l’expérience / This thesis presents the development and application of a Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) model to bed-load transport. While state of the art simulation methods commonly rely on a fluid dynamics solver coupled to semi-empirical relationships to model the sediment transport, a completely different approach is investigated in this work. The sediment is treated as a continuum whose behaviour law takes account for its granular nature. citepos{ulrich2013smoothed} elastic-viscoplastic model is thus implemented in an in-house code based on the Cuda language, and improved on physical and numerical aspects. The sediment behaviour depends on a yield stress determined according to Drucker-Prager's criterion. In unyielded regions, the shear stresses are calculated in line with the linear elastic theory. In yielded regions, a shear thinning rheological law is used and the transitions between solid and liquid states are ensured by a blending function driven by the strain rate magnitude and sediment granular properties. Water and sediment are modelled as two immiscible phases in the frame of a multi-phase SPH model with semi-analytical wall boundary conditions cite{ferrand2013unified}. An implicit viscous forces integration scheme is also developed to improve the code performance as for low-Reynolds flows.The multi-phase model, as well as the implicit viscous forces integration scheme, were validated on analytical test cases and good agreement was obtained. The multi-phase formulation has also proven its capability to handle flows involving high density ratio, while the implicit viscous forces integration scheme was successfully applied to the simulation of a non-Newtonian flow. The elastic-viscoplastic model was tested on dry and submerged granular flow problems. The model was able to correctly capture the liquid and solid states of the granular material, as well as the failure and the regime transitions. It was also applied to bed-load transport problems for which a good agreement with the experiment was generally found

Cette thèse traite de la simulation numérique de systèmes composés de nombreuxobjets distincts, et dont le principal mécanisme d'interaction consiste en des contacts inélastiques avec frottement solide.On trouve de nombreuses occurrences de tels systèmes dans la nature,par exemple sous la forme de sable ou d'une chevelure humaine ;aussi la reproduction numérique de leur dynamique trouve des applications diverses, allant de considérations géotechniques à la production d'effets spéciaux réalistes pour le cinéma.Une difficulté majeure pour la simulation de tels systèmes concerne la non-régularité de leur dynamique ; à une échelle de temps macroscopique, on observe par exemple des sauts dans les vitesses des constituants lors d'impacts.La première partie de ce manuscrit est ainsi dédiée à la conception d'algorithmes efficaces permettant de prendre en compte les contacts avec frottement de Coulomblors de la simulation de systèmes mécaniques discrets. La méthode que nous proposons, basée sur un algorithme de type Gauss--Seidel avec stratégie hybride, s'avèrerobuste et perfomante sur le problème délicat de la simulation virtuelle de chevelures.La second partie de ce manuscrit est consacrée à l'étude de systèmes à une échelle beaucoup plus grande, au delà du million de grains. Puisque le calcul de toutes les forces de contacts pour chaque paire de grains s'avérerait trop coûteux, on adopte un point de vue macroscopique en utilisant le formalisme des milieux continus. On propose ainsi d'adapter les méthodes développées pour la simulation de systèmes discrets à la résolution de la rhéologie dite de Drucker--Prager, une relation entre la contrainte et le cisaillement du matériau exprimant l'influence moyennée des forces de frottement.On montre que cette approche nous permet de retrouver le comportement qualitatif de matériaux granulaires secs observé expérimentalement.Finalement, nous proposons un nouveau modèle numérique pour l'étudedes dynamiques couplées d'un matériau granulaire immergé dans un fluide Newtonien,et montrons une nouvelle fois que les algorithmes développés pour la mécanique discrètes'avèrent également pertinents dans le cas continu. / This dissertation focuses on the numerical simulation of mechanical systems consisting of a large number of discrete pieces interacting with each other through contacts and dry friction. Examples of such systems --- for instance, sand or human hair --- are common in natural environments; being able to predict their dynamics is therefore of great importance for diverse applications ranging from geotechnical considerations to engaging visual effects for feature films.A major difficulty that complicates the numerical simulation of such complex systems stems from the nonsmoothness of their dynamics. For instance, from a macroscopic viewpoint, the velocity of the individual constituents may exhibit instantaneous jumps when impacts occur.The first part of this manuscript will be dedicated to the establishment of efficient algorithms for the numerical simulation of discrete mechanical systems subject to contacts and Coulomb friction. We advocate using a Gauss--Seidel algorithm with a hybrid local solver, and show that this strategy performs robustly in the challenging context of virtual hair simulation.The second part of this dissertation will focus on much bigger systems, consisting of millions or billions of grains.As computing every force between pairs of contacting grains quickly becomes intractable, we embrace a continuum viewpoint instead. We show how the numerical methods devised for the simulation of discrete mechanical systems can be adapted to thesimulation of flows governed by the Drucker--Prager rheology --- a constitutive relationship between the material's stress and strain rate that macroscopically models the action of frictional contact forces. This approach allows us to capture qualitative features of granular flows that have been observed experimentally. Finally, we propose a new numerical model for the coupled simulation of a granular continuum with a surrounding fluid, and show that once again, we are able to leverage efficient algorithms from discrete contact mechanics to solve the resulting equations.

Geotechnical engineers are commonly faced with the need to perform ground improvement techniques to achieve the necessary bearing capacity for a project. Some of the most common techniques involve the excavation and replenishment of problematic geomaterial with one of better quality. Common projects, such as road embankments and retaining walls, also require the selection of backfill material. The guidelines for selecting backfill material are typically limited to complying with certain gradation bands, relative densities and allowable fines content. Round-grained silica sand, and beach sand from Boca Raton, FL, were used to generate a total of 16 binary granular mixtures containing different amounts of finer material, for which a series of direct shear tests were conducted. Based on the experimental results, it may be possible to provide an alternative criteria for selecting backfill material based on granulometric parameters and the amount of finer material. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Dans cette thèse on s'appuie sur la simulation numérique discrète pour étudier le comportement mécanique d'un milieux granulaire immergé dans un fluide visqueux. Le calcul de la dynamique du mélange est rendu possible grâce à un couplage fort entre méthodes des éléments discrets (DEM) pour les grains et Lattice Boltzmann (LBM) pour le fluide. Pour une large gamme de valeurs de vitesses de cisaillement, contraintes de confinement et viscosités, les résultats montrent que le coefficient de frottement interne et la compacité sont bien décrits par un unique paramètre adimensionnel "visco-inertiel" associant les nombres de Stokes et d'inertie. Le comportement frottant, obtenu à pression de confinement constante, est mis en correspondance avec le comportement visqueux obtenu sous conditions aux limites à volume controlé et qui conduit à une divergence des viscosités effectives normales et tangentielles en inverse du carré de la différence entre compacité et compacité critique de l'assemblage. Les résultats numériques montrent un excellant accord avec les données expérimentales de Boyer et al. (2011). L'évolution de la connectivité et de l'anisotropie du réseau de force en fonction du nombre visco-inertiel montrent que l'augmentation de la résistance au frottement est une conséquence directe d'une anisotropie de structure renforcée à la fois par les effets de la viscosité et de l'inertie des grains. En vue d'une contribution à l'évaluation des risques consécutifs à un accident nucléaire, nous nous sommes également intéressés à l'étude de la fragmentation et de l'écoulement d'agrégats poreux confinés et soumis à une surpression locale exercée par un fluide. L'étude de l'écoulement sous gravité d'un matériau granulaire immergé à travers une constriction a également fait l'objet d'une campagne d'essais numériques. / We investigate the behavior of granular materials immersed in a viscous fluid by means of extensive simulations based on the Discrete Element Method for particle dynamics coupled with the Lattice Boltzmann method for the fluid. We show that, for a broad range of parameters such as shear rate, confining stress and viscosity, the internal friction coefficient and packing fraction are well described by a single "visco-inertial" dimensionless parameter combining inertial and Stokes numbers. The frictional behavior under constant confining pressure is mapped into a viscous behavior under volume-controled conditions, leading to the divergence of the effective normal and shear viscosities in inverse square of the distance to the critical packing fraction. The results are in excellent agreement with the experimental data of Boyer et al. (2011). The evolution of the force network in terms of connectivity and anisotropy as a function of the visco-inertial number, indicates that the increase of frictional strength is a direct consequence of structural anisotropy enhanced by both fluid viscosity and grain inertia. In view of application to a potential nuclear accident, we also study the fragmentation and flow of confined porous aggregates in a fluid under the action of local overpressures and pressure gradients as well as gravity-driven flow of immersed particles in an hourglass.

Predictive computational tools to study granular materials are important in fields ranging from the geosciences and civil engineering to computer graphics. The simulation of granular materials, however, presents many challenges. The behavior of a granular medium is fundamentally multi-scale, with pair-wise interactions between discrete granules able to influence the continuum-scale evolution of a bulk material. Computational techniques for studying granular materials must therefore contend with this multi-scale nature. This research first addresses both the question of how to accurately model interactions between grains and the question of how to achieve multi-scale simulations of granular materials. We propose a novel rigid body contact model and a time integration technique that, for the first time, are able to simultaneously capture five key features of rigid body impact. We further validate this new model and time integration method by reproducing computationally challenging phenomena from granular physics. We next propose a technique to couple discrete and continuum models of granular materials to one another. This hybrid model reveals a family of possible discretizations suitable for simulation. We derive an explicit integration technique from this framework that is able to capture phenomena previously reserved for discrete treatments, including frictional jamming, while treating bulk regions of the material with a continuum model. To effectively handle the large plastic deformations inherent in the evolution of a granular medium, we further propose a method to dynamically update which regions are treated with a discrete model and which regions are treated with a continuum model. We demonstrate that hybrid simulations of a dynamically evolving granular material are possible and practical, and lay the foundation for further algorithmic development in this space. Finally, as the the tools used in computational science and engineering become progressively more complex, the ability to effectively train students in the field becomes increasingly important. We address the question of how to train students from a computer science background in numerical computation techniques by proposing a new system to automatically vet and identify problems in numerical simulations. This system has been deployed at the undergraduate and graduate level in a course on physical simulation at Columbia University, and has increased both student retention and student satisfaction with the course.