RESUMEN
We present a realistic model for simulating particle fragmentation in granular assemblies, the damage separation model (DSM), that addresses the limitations of previous methods by replacing the particle with smaller ones after fragmentation. The method is based on the calculation of the strain energy field inside the particle, and it solves the two major issues of the existing replaceable particle methods: the oversimplification of particle stress, and the unrealistic geometrical constraints needed in postbreakage replacements. Our model is formulated with three modules: (i) a boundary element calculation of stress and strain fields inside the spheropolygons that represent individual particles; (ii) a strain-energy-based theoretical framework to determine the onset of fragmentation; and (iii) an advanced geometrical algorithm, the subset separation method (SSM), to handle the postbreakage replacements in the discrete element simulations. Especially, the SSM effectively calculates the fragments required by the replacement with no geometrical limitation on the number, location, and orientation of the fracture planes. A uniaxial compression test based on laboratory setups is used to validate the method. A comparison is further conducted to study the performance of four different replaceable irregular particle methods. Results indicate that our method overcomes most of the existing issues, including stability, accuracy, and artificial constraints on the number and shape of fragments. The DSM has great potential for capturing the morphological changes of particle breakage and comminution with an unprecedented numerical resolution.
RESUMEN
The Rothman-Keller color-gradient (CG) lattice Boltzmann method is a popular method to simulate two-phase flow because of its ability to deal with fluids with large viscosity contrasts and a wide range of interfacial tensions. Two fluids are labeled red and blue, and the gradient in the color difference is used to compute the effect of interfacial tension. It is well known that finite-difference errors in the color-gradient calculation lead to anisotropy of interfacial tension and errors such as spurious currents. Here, we investigate the accuracy of the CG calculation for interfaces between fluids with several radii of curvature and find that the standard CG calculations lead to significant inaccuracy. Specifically, we observe significant anisotropy of the color gradient of order 7% for high curvature of an interface such as when a pinchout occurs. We derive a second order accurate color gradient and find that the diagonal nearest neighbors can be weighted differently than in the usual color-gradient calculation such that anisotropy is minimized to a fraction of a percent. The optimal weights that minimize anisotropy for the smallest radius of curvature interface are found to be w=(0.298,0.284,0.275) for diagonal nearest neighbors for the cases of the interface smoothing parameter ß=(0.5,0.7,0.99), somewhat higher than the w=0.25 value derived by Leclaire et al. [Leclaire, Reggio, and Trepanier, Computers and Fluids 48, 98 (2011)CPFLBI0045-793010.1016/j.compfluid.2011.04.001] based on obtaining isotropic errors to second order. We find that use of these optimal w values yields over a factor of 10 decrease in anisotropy and over a factor of 30 decrease in mean anisotropy relative to using the standard w=1 value. And we find a factor of about 2 decrease in the anisotropic error and up to factor 15 decrease in mean anisotropic error relative to the choice of w=0.25 for small radius of curvature interfaces. The improved CG calculations will allow the method to be more reliably applied to studies of phenomenology and pore scale processes such as viscous and capillary fingering, and droplet formation where surface-tension isotropy of narrow fingers and small droplets plays a crucial role in correctly capturing phenomenology. We present an example illustrating how different phenomena can be captured using the improved color-gradient method. Namely, we present simulations of a wetting fluid invading a fluid filled pipe where the viscosity ratio of fluids is unity in which droplets form at the transition to fingering using the improved CG calculations that are not captured using the standard CG calculations. We present an explanation of why this is so which relates to anisotropy of the surface tension, which inhibits the pinchouts needed to form droplets.
