{"title":"Determination of discrete element method (DEM) simulation parameters for polymeric waste particles","authors":"Alessio Martignoni, Lorenzo Iorio, Matteo Strano","doi":"10.1007/s10035-024-01474-8","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Plastic consumption is on the rise, particularly in Europe, where million tonnes are produced each year, with only 10% recovered. Optimizing the recycling processes in all its phases is vital. Understanding particle movement in some components of the plastic recycling plants can be addressed by the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The characterization of DEM materials is often performed through the study of the angle of repose (AoR). This study aims to advance DEM simulation of shredded polymeric waste, proposing a scaling and calibration procedure of the relevant simulation parameters. A total of six distinct types of polymeric particles, with different shape and size, have been characterized in this study, measuring their density, their shape estimators, their size distribution and their angle of repose. The AoR has been measured through a hollow cylinder lifting test. First, sensitivity analyses have been performed to establish a suitable range for the numerical parameters and to reduce the dimensionality of the problem. Then, the scaling and calibration procedure is described and tested on the six batches. The proposed procedure allows to predict very well the AoR, with an error below 1%, and the other geometrical variables of a heap, although it deteriorates in fully predicting its shape when the sphericity of the particles decreases.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":49323,"journal":{"name":"Granular Matter","volume":"26 4","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.4000,"publicationDate":"2024-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Granular Matter","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10035-024-01474-8","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Plastic consumption is on the rise, particularly in Europe, where million tonnes are produced each year, with only 10% recovered. Optimizing the recycling processes in all its phases is vital. Understanding particle movement in some components of the plastic recycling plants can be addressed by the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The characterization of DEM materials is often performed through the study of the angle of repose (AoR). This study aims to advance DEM simulation of shredded polymeric waste, proposing a scaling and calibration procedure of the relevant simulation parameters. A total of six distinct types of polymeric particles, with different shape and size, have been characterized in this study, measuring their density, their shape estimators, their size distribution and their angle of repose. The AoR has been measured through a hollow cylinder lifting test. First, sensitivity analyses have been performed to establish a suitable range for the numerical parameters and to reduce the dimensionality of the problem. Then, the scaling and calibration procedure is described and tested on the six batches. The proposed procedure allows to predict very well the AoR, with an error below 1%, and the other geometrical variables of a heap, although it deteriorates in fully predicting its shape when the sphericity of the particles decreases.
期刊介绍:
Although many phenomena observed in granular materials are still not yet fully understood, important contributions have been made to further our understanding using modern tools from statistical mechanics, micro-mechanics, and computational science.
These modern tools apply to disordered systems, phase transitions, instabilities or intermittent behavior and the performance of discrete particle simulations.
>> Until now, however, many of these results were only to be found scattered throughout the literature. Physicists are often unaware of the theories and results published by engineers or other fields - and vice versa.
The journal Granular Matter thus serves as an interdisciplinary platform of communication among researchers of various disciplines who are involved in the basic research on granular media. It helps to establish a common language and gather articles under one single roof that up to now have been spread over many journals in a variety of fields. Notwithstanding, highly applied or technical work is beyond the scope of this journal.