Superquadric DEM-SPH coupling method for interaction between non-spherical granular materials and fluids

The research on the coupling method of non-spherical granular materials and fluids aims to predict the particle-fluid interaction in this study. A coupling method based on superquadric elements is developed to describe the interaction between non-spherical solid particles and fluids. The discrete element method (DEM) and the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) are adopted to simulate granular materials and fluids. The repulsive force model is adopted to calculate the coupling force and then a contact detection method is established for the interaction between the superquadric element and the fluid particle. The contact detection method captures the shape of superquadric element and calculates the distance from the fluid particle to the surface of superquadric element. Simulation cases focusing on the coupling force model, energy transfer, and large-scale calculations have been implemented to verify the validity of the proposed coupling method. The coupling force model accurately represents the water entry process of a spherical solid particle, and reasonably reflects the difference of solid particles with different shapes. In the water entry process of multiple solid particles, the total energy of the water entry process of multiple solid particles tends to be stable. The collapse process of the partially submerged granular column is simulated and analyzed under different parameters. Therefore, this coupling method is suitable to simulate fluid-particle systems containing solid particles with multiple shapes. (c) 2022 Chinese Society of Particuology and Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study develops a coupling method based on superquadric elements to describe the interaction between non-spherical solid particles and fluids. The discrete element method (DEM) and smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) are used to simulate granular materials and fluids, respectively. The coupling force is calculated using a repulsive force model, and a contact detection method is established to capture the shape of the superquadric element and calculate the distance between the fluid particle and the surface of the superquadric element. Simulation cases verify the validity of the proposed coupling method, which accurately represents the water entry process of spherical solid particles and can simulate fluid-particle systems with solid particles of multiple shapes.