Exploring the Regimes of Particle Behavior upon Impact via the Discrete Element Method

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Materials Science
• Computational Mechanics

Background:

• Understanding particle-surface interactions is crucial in many fields.
• Agglomerated particles present complex behaviors upon impact.
• Existing models may not fully capture breakage mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the post-impact behavior of spherical particle agglomerates.
• To identify distinct impact regimes based on velocity and surface energy.
• To link force transmission to observed behaviors.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing discrete element method (DEM) simulations.
• Modeling particles as agglomerates of smaller constituent particles.
• Varying impact velocities and particle surface energies.

Main Results:

• Identified five distinct impact regimes: rebounding, vibration, fragmentation, pancaking, and shattering.
• Observed a linear decrease in coefficient of restitution with increasing impact velocity in the rebounding regime.
• Noted that particle breakage in the pancaking regime deviates from conventional models.

Conclusions:

• Force transmission patterns are key indicators of post-impact behavior.
• The study provides a framework for understanding complex particle impact dynamics.
• Further research is needed to refine breakage models for specific regimes.