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Effect of particle shape, size and particle friction in granular solid flow in railway ballast |
Prof. Xuecheng Bian
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Infrastructure and Environment |
The aim is to develop a new understanding of the micromechanics of railway trackbed subjected to dynamic loads induced by high speed trains. This should lead to safer design of high-speed railway systems which require less maintenance and, therefore, are more sustainable.
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A multi-scale approach to characterising fluid contribution to conductive heat transfer in dense granular systems |
Prof. Jin Ooi
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Infrastructure and Environment |
For granular materials with low thermal conductivity heat transfer occurs through interstitial gases as well as through physical contacts. Existing particle based models are ill suited to dense systems so a multi-scale approach has been used to correlate the local packing structure to the gas contribution to conductive heat transfer in dense granular systems.
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DEM model calibration and validation for cohesive soil-machine interactions |
Prof. Jin Ooi
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Infrastructure and Environment |
The modelling of cohesive soils is a challenging task of great importance in many earth moving processes. In these cases, the understanding of the interaction soil-machine is vital to try to optimize the process and avoid problems. This project aims to investigate the capabilities of DEM cohesive contact models to capture with a sufficient level of accuracy the mechanical behaviours involved in soil-machine interactions.
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Investigation of particle breakage of dry granular materials using x-ray computed tomography and the DEM |
Prof. Jin Ooi
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Infrastructure and Environment |
When a load is applied to an assembly of particles and particle breakage occurs, the macroscopic behaviour of the assembly is greatly affected by changes in the micro-scale caused by breakage. In this project particle breakage is studied in 3D using x-ray tomography and simulating the process with the DEM.
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Measurement and modelling of powder flow in flexible containers |
Prof. Jin Ooi
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Infrastructure and Environment |
The research focuses on understanding cohesive powder flow in flexible bulk solid containers (buggies and bulk bags) with a view to develop a design methodology for ensuring reliable discharge from these containers. The project involves experimental powder flowability characterisation, finite element analysis of the stresses in flexible containers and pilot scale experiments to study the powder flow field and validate the new design methodology for reliable discharge.
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Are some phobias good? Examining hydro-mechanical relationships in hydrophobic soils |
Dr Chris Beckett
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Infrastructure and Environment |
Extreme climatic events in the 21st century threaten the resilience of geotechnical engineering structures. Low-permeability barriers are at a particularly high risk of inundation under flooding or cracking during droughts, compromising the barriers and permitting contamination of the surrounding ground.
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Dense suspension rheology through DEM simulations |
Dr. Jin Sun
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Infrastructure and Environment |
Mud, slurry, coffee, paints, cements, batteries and many other everyday materials have particles suspended in a liquid. We need to understand the flow behaviour to handle, and process such materials for traditional and innovative applications. Our research seeks to understand the common features of the flow behaviour of different materials using simple particle based simulations. In particular, we focus on dense suspensions where the particles occupy more than 50 % by volume of the solution.
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Effect of particle shape, size and particle friction in granular solid flow in railway ballast |
Prof. Xuecheng Bian
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Infrastructure and Environment |
In the Chinese southeast coastal areas, most of the rail transit infrastructures are built on the soft soil. Infrastructures construction and operation including high speed railway or urban railway system require a good understanding of the behavior of the soft soil subject to the static and dynamic loading induced by the infrastructure.
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Modelling of dense suspensions rheology |
Dr. Jin Sun
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Infrastructure and Environment |
We examine the rheology of granular dense suspensions using computer simulations with discreste particles and develop constitutive models for flow of such suspensions.
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Multi-scale analysis of DEM data to enhance the prediction at system scale |
Prof. Jin Ooi
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Infrastructure and Environment |
While the discrete element method (DEM) can provide particle-scale information to inform the design of particulate equipment, many industrial sectors are interested in large-scale modelling and scaling-up processes [1].
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