Effect of Obstruction on 3D Granular Hopper Flow in LAMMPS

Presenter: Hassan Ziad Nejmeldeen

Faculty Sponsor: Shubha Tewari

School: UMass Amherst

Research Area: Physics and Nanotechnology

Session: Poster Session 4, 2:15 PM - 3:00 PM, Auditorium, A46

ABSTRACT

Granular materials consist of collections of macroscopic particles that interact via collisional contact forces and friction. Hoppers and silos are bulk containers for granular materials which allow discharge through an opening at the bottom; hoppers have a tapered base, and silos do not. The rate of discharge is controlled by the size of the opening, and when this becomes very small, the flow can clog. It has previously been shown that an obstruction placed near the interior opening of either of these containers can facilitate granular flow, and that the optimal placement in a hopper depends primarily on the shortest obstacle-to-wall distance. Using LAMMPS simulations, we investigate various cases to better understand this phenomenon. We seek a similar obstacle-to-wall generalization for a silo geometry. We demonstrate that the obstacle maintains its positive effect in polydisperse mixtures. We investigate whether allowing degrees of freedom under a harmonic potential amplifies the obstacle’s beneficial impact. 

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