MOST CITED
Update: 2021-07-01
Task „Implementation of procedures ensuring the originality of scientific papers published in the quarterly „Eksploatacja i Niezawodność – Maintenance and Reliability” financed under contract 532/P-DUN/2018 from the funds of the Minister of Science and Higher Education for science dissemination activities.
Piotr Rubacha
Kalibracja modelu materiału sypkiego w Metodzie Elementów Dyskretnych na przykładzie perlitu D18-DN
Analityczne metody obliczeniowe parametrów konstrukcyjnych maszyn i urządzeń transportowych są często niewystarczające, zawłaszcza w przypadku transportu nietypowych materiałów sypkich. Pomocnym narzędziem numerycznym wspierającym proces projektowania i optymalizacji urządzeń do transportu materiałów sypkich jest Metoda Elementów Dyskretnych (DEM). Uzyskanie wiarygodnych wyników symulacji wymaga kalibracji parametrów wejściowych modelowanego materiału wykorzystując wyniki badań laboratoryjnych właściwości fizykochemicznych rzeczywistych materiałów. W artykule przedstawiono metodologię kalibracji modelu DEM na przykładzie perlitu D18-DN. W oparciu o przeprowadzoną kalibrację zaprezentowano możliwości zastosowania metody DEM do symulowania transportu materiału przenośnikiem ślimakowym.
Calibration of bulk material model in Discrete Element Method on example of perlite D18-DN
Analytical methods for calculations of the transport machinery are often insufficient especially when untypical granular materials are considered. Discrete Element Method (DEM) is a very useful numerical tool supporting designing and optimization of the transport equipment. However, to obtain reliable DEM simulation results an accurate set of input parameters values is needed. The most common calibration approach is to make use of a procedure where laboratory tests are performed and then the same experiments are numerically replicated in DEM. The article presents calibration of the DEM input parameters on the example of perlite D18-DN Based on the performed calibration, the model of perlite transport in a screw conveyor has been shown.
Simulational and experimental determination of the exploitation parameters of a screw conveyor
The paper discusses the designing process of screw conveyors, with regard to the determination of the exploitation parameters of such devices with the use of the Discrete Element Method (DEM). The influence of the chosen model input parameters on the results of the simulations was examined. The key parameters which determine the exploitation characteristics of a screw conveyor were identified as follows: the size of a DEM particle, coefficients of internal and external friction. Experimental measurements of the laboratory screw conveyor provided the actual exploitation characteristics of a device used for the transportation of a limestone powder. The comparison of the results of the simulations and experiments gave satisfactory results. For this reason, DEM simulations were identified as an effective tool for determining and optimization of the construction and exploitation parameters of the screw conveyors.
Optimization of a screw conveyor's exploitation parameters
The paper describes the problem of designing screw conveyors in terms of determining their exploitation characteristics. Based on the actual values of mass efficiency and power demand obtained in a laboratory experiment, the theoretical design methods and the numerical discrete element method model results were verified. The obtained results have shown that the currently used theoretical methods underestimate the mass efficiency and power demand compared to experiments when typical values of filling rate coefficient and progress resistance coefficient are used. It was also shown that the results of DEM simulations are in good agreement with the experiments in terms of mass efficiency and power demand. Based on the exploitation characteristics determined in DEM simulations for different constructions of the screw and different rotational speeds, multi-objective optimization of the exploitation parameters of the screw was performed in order to minimize the power demand of a screw conveyor and simultaneously maximize its mass efficiency. The optimization results showed that it is possible to find such construction and the rotational speed that will maximize the mass efficiency of the conveyor and keep the power demand low, reducing the exploitation costs of the device.