A mechanically-derived contact model for adhesive elastic-perfectly plastic particles. Part II: Contact under high compaction--adding a bulk elastic response

TL;DR

This paper extends a contact model for adhesive elastic-plastic particles by incorporating a bulk elastic response, enabling accurate simulation of high compaction scenarios and complex loadings.

Contribution

It introduces a novel formulation and criterion for the bulk elastic regime, enhancing the existing contact model to handle high compaction and elastic stiffening effects.

Findings

Accurately predicts bulk elastic responses compared to finite element simulations.

Detects and models contact evolution caused by outward displacement of free surfaces.

Superimposes bulk elastic force with existing model for comprehensive contact simulation.

Abstract

In Part I of this two part series, we presented a multi-neighbor dependent contact model for adhesive elastic-plastic particles built upon the method of dimensionality reduction that is valid for the elastic and fully-plastic contact regimes. In this Part II, we complete the contact model by proposing a treatment for the bulk elastic contact regime which is characterized by a rapid stiffening in the force-displacement curve as interstitial pore spaces vanish. A simple formulation is presented for an additional bulk elastic force. A novel criterion for triggering this force (i.e. detecting the bulk elastic regime) related to the remaining free surface area of the particle is also given. This bulk elastic force is then superimposed with the force response given in Part I to achieve a contact model capable of capturing a variety of complex loadings. In this way, the methodology for treating the bulk elastic regime presented here stands independent of Part I and could be appended to any contact model. Direct comparison is made to finite element simulations showcasing bulk elastic responses, revealing the accurate predictive capabilities of the contact model. Notably, the contact model is also demonstrated to detect and evolve contacts caused purely by outward displacement of the free surface with good precision.