Discrete Element Method (DEM) Analysis of Non-Cohesive Granular Material Flow in Hoppers

Abstract

Hoppers, silos and bins are expected to store material and provide unrestricted and uniform flow of the same in mate-rial processing plants. Traditionally, the material flow from hopper is analyzed assuming the solid mass as contin-uum. However, the behavior of particulate solids deviates significantly from a continuous system, due to fluctuation in its bulk material properties (e.g. bulk density) throu-ghout the process. In the present work, a numerical techn-ique called discrete element method (DEM) is used to analyze granular material flow from hopper. DEM tracks the _trajectories of individual particles as they interact with their neighboring particles and hopper walls. These interactions ultimately translate to the overall displace-ment of the particles. The scheme is repeated in small time intervals covering the complete duration of the proc-ess. Here the simulations are limited to non-cohesive sphe-rical granular material. Material flow is studied as a function of hopper geometry. This article involves visua-lization and flow rate analysis of coarse particles for different hopper design.