Thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation of three-dimensional large-scale non-isothermal problems: A comprehensive upscale theory. Issue 5 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Xia, Ming
• Is Part Of: Engineering computations. Volume 34:Issue 5(2017)
• Page Start: 1551
• Page End: 1571
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Particle simulation method -- Upscale theory -- 3D non-isothermal problems -- Scaling methodology -- Thermo-mechanical coupling; Computer-aided engineering -- Periodicals; Computer graphics -- Periodicals; 620.00285
• DOI: 10.1108/EC-04-2016-0135
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-4401

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive upscale theory of the thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation for three-dimensional (3D) large-scale non-isothermal problems, so that a small 3D length-scale particle model can exactly reproduce the same mechanical and thermal results with that of a large 3D length-scale one. Design/methodology/approach: The objective is achieved by following the scaling methodology proposed byFeng and Owen (2014) . Findings: After four basic physical quantities and their similarity-ratios are chosen, the derived quantities and its similarity-ratios can be derived from its dimensions. As the proposed comprehensive 3D upscale theory contains five similarity criteria, it reveals the intrinsic relationship between the particle-simulation solution obtained from a small 3D length-scale (e.g. a laboratory length-scale) model and that obtained from a large 3D length-scale (e.g. a geological length-scale) one. The scale invariance of the 3D interaction law in the thermo-mechanical coupled particle model is examined. The proposed 3D upscale theory is tested through two typical examples. Finally, a practical application example of 3D transient heat flow in a solid with constant heat flux is given to illustrate the performance of the proposed 3D upscale theory in the thermo-mechanical coupling particle simulation of 3D large-scale non-isothermal problems. Both the benchmark tests and application example are provided to demonstrate the correctness and usefulness of the proposed 3D upscale theory for simulating 3D non-isothermal problems using the particle simulation method. Originality/value: The paper provides some important theoretical guidance to modeling 3D large-scale non-isothermal problems at both the engineering length-scale (i.e. the meter-scale) and the geological length-scale (i.e. the kilometer-scale) using the particle simulation method directly.