DEM-FEM investigation of the particle transport process in a flexible tube

Abstract

The transport of the particulate materials in a flexible tube is commonly encountered in practical applications, in which the flexible tube is easily susceptible to deformation and movement. However, there are relatively few published fundamental studies for investigating the particle transport process in a flexible tube, particularly at the particle level. As a consequence, the particle-scale DEM (Discrete Element Method) is coupled with FEM (Finite Element Method) in this work to simulate the particle flow in a flexible tube, in which the particle phase and the flexible tube are solved by DEM and FEM, respectively. The experiment of the flow of the copper spheres in a flexible silicone tube is then conducted to validate the accuracy of the developed DEM-FEM model, where the experimental apparatus mainly consists of a flexible tube, a hopper used to store particles prior to the commencement of the experiment, and a container to collect the particles that discharge from the tube. Subsequently, the particle flows in a flexible tube are simulated by DEM-FEM, and the relatively comprehensive investigation for exploring the impacts of physical properties of the tube (including Young's modulus, density and damping ratio) on the behaviors of the particles and the tube (e.g., particle velocity, shear impact energy and vibration displacement behavior of the tube) is performed. According to the simulation results, the Young's modulus and the tube density can significantly affect both the particle behaviors and the tube deformation and movement behaviors, whereas the particle behaviors are slightly affected by the damping ratio.