A discrete element study of settlement in vibrated granular layers: role of contact loss and acceleration

TL;DR

This study investigates how vibration affects granular materials, revealing that acceleration influences settlement speed and contact loss, with numerical simulations showing the relationship between settlement and contact loss.

Contribution

It introduces a discrete element simulation approach to analyze settlement in vibrated granular layers, emphasizing the role of contact loss and acceleration.

Findings

Settlement speed depends on acceleration.

Contact loss correlates with settlement.

Numerical models effectively describe the process.

Abstract

This paper deals with the vibration of granular materials due to cyclic external excitation. It highlights the effect of the acceleration on the settlement speed and proves the existence of a relationship between settlement and loss of contacts in partially confined granular materials under vibration. The numerical simulations are carried out using the Molecular Dynamics method, where the discrete elements consist of polygonal grains. The data analyses are conducted based on multivariate autoregressive models to describe the settlement and permanent contacts number with respect to the number of loading cycles.