Modeling 3D non-Newtonian solid-liquid flows with a free-surface using DEM-MPS

Due to the complicated interactions between the liquid phase and solid particles, it is important to adequately simulate the components themselves in a non-Newtonian solid liquid flow with a free surface. In this work, a hybrid computational framework is presented to simulate the non-Newtonian free-surface flow of the liquid-grain mixture by coupling the Moving Particle Semi-implicit (MPS) method and the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The DEM governs the motion of the solid particles, while the MPS is extended to model the non-Newtonian rheology and free surfaces. The robustness and the correctness of the proposed method were illustrated by several numerical examples involving non-Newtonian free surface flows with solid particles. The simulated results were in good agreement with analytical solutions or available experimental data in the literatures.