The Beauty of Discrete Element Modeling

Yu Guo

University of Florida

Abstract:

Granular materials are widely encountered in nature and industrial processes. Understanding the mechanical behavior of granular materials is crucial for the control of natural/environmental disasters (e.g. landslide, sand storm, and dust emission) and the optimization of efficient designs in many industries (e.g. pharmaceutical, powder metallurgy, mining, food, and energy-related industries). The Discrete Element Method (DEM), since it was first introduced in 1970s, has been extensively applied to fundamental research and industrial processes of granular materials, due to the ease to obtain the transient and particle-scale information. In this talk, an overview will be made to explain the theories, numerical scheme, and advantages and limitations of the DEM method. Some examples will be presented to illustrate how to use the DEM modeling to analyze the granular flow and segregation in some typical industrial processes (e.g. die filling, fluidization, and vibrated bed). In addition, the development of true cylindrical particle model and flexible fiber model will be discussed, and the effects of particle shape and flexibility on the rheology and constitutive laws of granular flows will be explored.

Bio-Sketch:

Yu Guo received his B.S. degree from Beihang University of China in 2003, and his M.S. degree from Tsinghua University of China in 2006, and his Ph.D. degree from University of Birmingham of the UK in 2010. He worked as a Research Fellow at University of Birmingham between 2010 and 2011, and thereafter he has been a PostDoc Associate at University of Florida of the US till now. In this June, He will start his new job as a Research Scientist at Jenike & Johanson Inc, the world’s leading company in particle technology. His research focus lies in the development of computational methods (Discrete Element Method and Computational Fluid Dynamics) for a better understanding of particulate systems and fluid-particle two-phase systems. He ever received the Excellent Master Thesis Award at the Tsinghua University in 2006, and the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-Financed PhD Students Abroad in 2010 (The only recipient from the University of Birmingham in 2010).

Time: March 21st 11:00-12:00a.m.

Location: Room 412,North Building,Meng Minwei of Tsinghua University science and Technology Building