Some important aspects of modelling clay platelet interactions using DEM

de Bono, John P.; McDowell, Glenn R.

Abstract

The discrete element method (DEM) is a popular tool for simulating soils, however it has rarely been used for modelling clays. This is despite the behaviour of clays being much less well understood compared to sands. This paper aims to increase the use of DEM to investigate clays by highlighting some important issues concerning the implementation of particle interactions to any model. When using spheres as the elementary unit in DEM, it is shown how special attention is needed to ensure repeatable interactions between platelets, and also how the geometry of the platelets affect both the normal and tangential interactions.

Citation

de Bono, J. P., & McDowell, G. R. (2022). Some important aspects of modelling clay platelet interactions using DEM. Powder Technology, 398, Article 117056. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2021.117056

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 4, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Dec 10, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Dec 16, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 16, 2021
• Journal: Powder Technology
• Print ISSN: 0032-5910
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-328X
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 398
• Article Number: 117056
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.powtec.2021.117056
• Keywords: General Chemical Engineering
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7019906
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0032591021010743