DEM study of size segregation of wet particles under vertical vibration

DEM study of the size segregation of spherical and cubical wet particles was conducted with a linear cohesion contact model. The effects of cohesion force on segregation pattern and speed were examined. A hill-shaped segregation mode was observed and analysed in terms of total normal force between small-sized particles, tangential force along the Z-axis by container wall and torque acting on the particles. Then, the effect of vibration parameters on the segregation process was investigated. The results show that the cohesion force has a greater influence on the segregation pattern and speed of spherical particles than on cubical ones. The cubical particles can segregate more easily than spherical particles when the cohesion force is relatively high. With the increase of the cohesion force, both the normal force between small-sized particles, the tangential force along the Z-axis and the torque acting on the particles increase. The average forces and torque of the spherical particles are generally larger than that of the cubical particles under the same conditions. The segregation speed and the volume concentration of large particles are generally increasing with the increase of vibration frequency or amplitude. Moreover, the vibration parameter combination with a relatively low vibration frequency and a relatively high vibration amplitude is good for the segregation of wet particles for a given vibration intensity. (C) 2019 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.