Scale-up Particle Model for Discrete Element Method

Abstract

Discrete Element Method (DEM) is widely used to simulate particulate systems to obtain particle-level information which could be difficult to achieve experimentally or in continuum approaches. One of the existing challenges in DEM is the high computational cost to perform industrial scale simulations since an enormous number of particles need to be tracked. Hence, the scale-up particle model, which is also known as the coarse grain, similarity and discrete parcel models, is often employed to reduce computational cost. In this review, the author’s recent development of the scale-up particle model is presented. The model is derived from the continuum assumption of particles and different scaling laws are applied to inter-particle and body forces. The scaling laws are written in a generic form and applicable to any force acting on particles as long as the continuum assumption is valid. Several test simulations are presented to prove that the scale-up particles proposed can effectively mimic the movement of the original particles.