Vibrationally-Fluidized Granular Flows: Impact and Bulk Velocity Measurements Compared with Discrete Element and Continuum Models

A new laser displacement probe was developed to measure the impact velocities of particles within vibrationally-fluidized beds. The sensor output was also used to measure bulk flow velocity along the probe window and to provide a measure of the media packing. The displacement signals from the laser sensors were analyzed to obtain the probability distribution functions of the impact velocity of the particles. The impact velocity was affected by the orientation of the laser probe relative to the bulk flow velocity, and the density and elastic properties of the granular media. The impact velocities of the particles were largely independent of their bulk flow speed and packing density.;Both the local impact and bulk flow velocities within a tub vibratory finisher were predicted using discrete element modelling (DEM) and compared to the measured values for spherical steel media. It was observed that the impact and bulk flow velocities were relatively insensitive to uncertainties in the contact coefficients of friction and restitution. It was concluded that the predicted impact and bulk flow velocities were dependent on the number of layers in the model. Consequently, the final DE model mimicked the key aspects of the experimental setup, including the submerged laser sensor. The DE method predictions of both impact velocity and bulk flow velocity were in reasonable agreement with the experimental measurements, with maximum differences of 20% and 30%, respectively.;Discrete element modeling of granular flows is effective, but requires large numerical models. In an effort to reduce computational effort, this work presents a finite element (FE) continuum model of a vibrationally-fluidized granular flow. The constitutive equations governing the continuum model were calibrated using the discrete element method (DEM). The bulk flow behavior of the equivalent continuum media was then studied using both Lagrangian and Eulerian FE formulations. The bulk flow velocities predicted by the Lagrangian approach were in good agreement with those obtained using DEM simulations over a wide range of tub wall amplitudes. The local impact velocity distribution predicted by the DEM was also compared to the continuum model using the shear rate as a measure of the granular temperature.