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Evolution of mesoscopic granular clusters in comminution systems: a structural mechanics model of grain breakage and force chain buckling

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Abstract

A major scientific challenge in establishing a micromechanics theory for complex materials is the characterisation and modelling of emergent mesoscopic phenomena. This study demonstrates the key elements of a structural mechanics approach to the modelling of mesoscopic dissipative phenomena in comminution systems where grain breakage and force chain buckling coexist. Given the many degrees of freedom in these systems, there are multitude of possible configurations and configurational transitions accessible even for a small particle cluster (e.g. a particle and its immediate neighbours). Here, we develop a model of the evolution of a 6-particle cluster undergoing breakage and force chain buckling, in sequence. The analysis lays bare the intricate connections between the contact topology, the relative kinematics arising from the interactions of particles at the bonded versus non-bonded contacts, and the collective dynamics of these interactions as the cluster is monotonically compressed under confinement. The stress-displacement response profiles at the cluster scale exhibit qualitatively similar properties to those seen in macroscopic assemblies under confined compression. A parametric analysis is undertaken to explore the effects of grain-scale resistances to breakage and buckling with respect to the overall force-displacement behaviour of the granular cluster. The study casts light on open problems for future research into the micromechanics of emergent cluster behaviour germane to comminution systems.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematics and Statistics, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Antoinette Tordesillas

  2. Physics Department, Centre for Nonlinear and Complex Systems, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Antoinette Tordesillas

  3. State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering, College of Water Resource and Hydropower, Western China Earthquake and Hazards Mitigation Research Centre (EHMRC), Sichuan University, Chengdu, P. R. China

    Enlong Liu

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  1. Antoinette Tordesillas
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Correspondence to Antoinette Tordesillas.

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Communicated by Andreas Öchsner.

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Tordesillas, A., Liu, E. Evolution of mesoscopic granular clusters in comminution systems: a structural mechanics model of grain breakage and force chain buckling. Continuum Mech. Thermodyn. 27, 105–132 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00161-014-0336-y

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