Suspensions, mixtures of a fluid and particles, are widespread in nature and industry. However, many open questions, such as the particle interactions in dense suspensions, have not been answered [1].
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.
Heat transfer in granular materials is a common occurrence in many industrial applications. One such application is the heating of recycled asphalt product (RAP).
The lack of an internal length scale parameter in classical continua leads to unrealistic numerical modelling of some phenomena related to the microstructure of the material such as size effect and strain localisation.
The objective of this research is to investigate the behavior of Dunkerque sand under undrained triaxial cyclic loading using the discrete element method (DEM).
From cement and ceramic pastes to paints and drilling fluids, dense suspensions of solid particles immersed in a liquid are ubiquitous in industries. Understanding the rheology of dense suspensions is important for explaining and predicting the multiphase flow behavior in traditional and innovative industrial processes. In this project, DEM simulations are employed to understand the rheology of suspensions containing different particles with different surface properties.
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].
Particle shape has important effects on bulk materials as sandpiles and mixtures; temporal changes of the shape (e.g. due to surface abrasion) also have severe consequences in many industrial sectors. To represent irregular particles, a compact “irregularity function” can be stored for each particle which describes how the shape deviates from a bounding sphere. Abrasion can be studied by adopting irregularity functions which can change with time depending on contact force.
The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has released a new report comparing the difference in earnings of by subject and university choice for UK graduates. The report includes a tool which allows you to find out how much a graduate could expect to earn above or below the average salary of all courses.
