Construction of poly-ellipsoidal grain shapes from SMT imaging on sand, and the development of a new DEM contact detection algorithm. Issue 2 (16th April 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhang, Boning; Regueiro, Richard; Druckrey, Andrew; Alshibli, Khalid
• Is Part Of: Engineering computations. Volume 35:Issue 2(2018)
• Page Start: 733
• Page End: 771
• Publication Date: 2018-04-16
• Subjects: Discrete element method -- Contact detection algorithm -- Fabric tensor -- Granular stress -- Poly-ellipsoids -- Synchrotron microcomputed tomography; Computer-aided engineering -- Periodicals; Computer graphics -- Periodicals; 620.00285
• DOI: 10.1108/EC-01-2017-0026
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0264-4401

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: This paper aims to construct smooth poly-ellipsoid shapes from synchrotron microcomputed tomography (SMT) images on sand and to develop a new discrete element method (DEM) contact detection algorithm. Design/methodology/approach: Voxelated images generated by SMT on Colorado Mason sand are processed to construct smooth poly-ellipsoidal particle approximations. For DEM contact detection, cuboidal shape approximations to the poly-ellipsoids are used to speed up contact detection. Findings: The poly-ellipsoid particle shape approximation to Colorado Mason sand grains is better than a simpler ellipsoidal approximation. The new DEM contact algorithm leads to significant speedup and accuracy is maintained. Research limitations/implications: The paper limits particle shape approximation to smooth poly-ellipsoids. Practical implications: Poly-ellipsoids provide asymmetry of particle shapes as compared to ellipsoids, thus allowing closer representation of real sand grain shapes that may be angular and unsymmetric. When incorporated in a DEM for computation, the poly-ellipsoids allow better representation of particle rolling, sliding and interlocking phenomena. Originality/value: Method to construct poly-ellipsoid particle shapes from SMT data on real sands and computationally efficient DEM contact detection algorithm for poly-ellipsoids.