Discrete Element Method Simulation of Particulate Material Fracture Behavior on a Stretchable Single Filter Fiber with Additional Gas Flow

This study presents a comprehensive discrete element method (DEM) simulation approach for the stretching of a filter fiber with a separated polydisperse particle structure on top. For a realistic interaction between the fiber surface and the particles, the original surface of the polymer fiber was projected onto the surface of the fiber cylinder using surface imaging technologies (atomic force microscopy (AFM) and white-light interferometry). In addition, the adhesive forces between particle–fiber and particle–particle contacts were calibrated in the DEM domain using values from self-conducted AFM measurements. Fiber stretching was implemented by the linear motion of small periodic fiber elements. Discretization problems were resolved through studying the stretching of a fiber segment at the size of 8 mm. A critical fiber element length was discovered to be ≈100 μm for minimizing discretization dependencies during the cracking of the particle structure. The number and density of particle–particle contacts within the particle loading on the fiber were obtained at two different elongation rates. Effects such as densification of the particulate structure and increased detachment due to additional air flow were demonstrated.