New 3D geometrical deposition methods for efficient packing of spheres based on tangency. (1st June 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cola, F. De; Falco, S.; Barbieri, E.; Petrinic, N.
• Is Part Of: International journal for numerical methods in engineering. Volume 104:Number 12(2015)
• Page Start: 1085
• Page End: 1114
• Publication Date: 2015-06-01
• Subjects: granular assembly -- tangency condition -- geometrical packing algorithm -- 3D deposition -- discrete element method (DEM); Numerical analysis -- Periodicals; Engineering mathematics -- Periodicals; 620.001518
• DOI: 10.1002/nme.4955
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0029-5981

Abstract

Summary: The morphology of many natural and man‐made materials at different length scales can be simulated using particle‐packing methods. This paper presents two novel 3D geometrical collective deposition algorithms for packed assemblies with prescribed distribution of radii: the 'planar deposition' and the '3D‐clew' method. The 'planar deposition' method mimics an orderly granular flow through a funnel by stacking up spirally ordinated planar assemblies of spheres capable of achieving the theoretical maximum for monodisperse aggregates. The '3D‐clew' method, instead, mimics the winding of a clew of yarn, thus yielding densely packed 3D polydispersed assemblies in terms of void ratio of the aggregate. The morphologies of such geometrically generated assemblies, achieved at several orders of magnitude reduced computational cost, are comparable with those consolidated uni‐directionally by means of discrete element method. In addition, significantly faster simulations of mechanical consolidation of granular media have been performed when relying upon the proposed geometrically generated assemblies as starting configurations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.