Stochastic and deterministic dynamics investigation of the microstructure of granular materials

Granular materials are ubiquitous in one's daily life. They can be found in the cereal you eat, the sugar you put in your coffee or the sand you walk on in the beach. The study of granular materials has a rich history dating back to the 17th century where Kepler studied the packing of particles. The compaction of granular materials is a problem that is studied by using theory, experiments and simulations. While these studies have yielded some important results, there still are many details about the mechanisms of granular compaction that are unknown. In this thesis, the density relaxation phenomenon is modeled using both Monte Carlo and discrete element simulations to investigate the effects of regular taps applied to a vessel having a planar floor filled with monodisperse spheres. Results suggest the existence of a critical tap intensity which produces a maximum bulk solids fraction. A key result that is found in this thesis is the mechanism responsible for the relaxation phenomenon is an evolving ordered packing structure propagating upwards from the plane floor.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering - (M.S.)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

Year

2010

Author dc:creator

• Ratnaswamy, Vishagan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Anthony D. Rosato
• David James Horntrop
• Pushpendra Singh

• Density relaxation phenomenon
• Monodispersed spheres
• Granular materials
• Mechanical Engineering

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.njit.edu/theses/69

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.njit.edu:theses-1068