Evaluation of drag force on a nonuniform particle distribution with a meshless method

A meshless Element-Free Galerkin （EFG） method was used to directly simulate the fluidization process in two dimensions. The drag force on particles was obtained by integrating the stress and shear forces on the particle surfaces. The results show that meshless methods are capable of dealing with real particle collisions, thus are superior to most mesh-based methods in reflecting the fluidization process with frequent particle collisions and suitable void fractions. Particle distribution greatly influences the drag coefficients even for the same voidage, that is, there are large differences in the average drag coefficients between nonuniform and uniform particle distributions. Different compacting directions also have different regu- larities, so conventional formulas such as ＇Wen and Yu＇ and ＇Felice＇ models have some deviations in such nonuniform distributions. To evaluate the influence of the nonuniformity, the drag force in multiple particle systems was simulated by using nonuniformity coefficients, Cvx and Cvy, to quantitatively describe the nonuniform distribution in different directions. Drag force during fluidization can be successfully evaluated by the use of Cvx alone.

Numerical analysis of residence time distribution of solids in a bubbling fluidized bed based on the modified structure-based drag model

The residence time distribution （RTD） of solids and the fluidized structure of a bubbling fluidized bed were investigated numerically using computational fluid dynamics simulations coupled with the modified structure-based drag model. A general comparison of the simulated results with theoretical values shows reasonable agreement. As the mean residence time is increased, the RTD initial peak intensity decreases and the RTD curve tail extends farther. Numerous small peaks on the RTD curve are induced by the back- mixing and aggregation of particles, which attests to the non-uniform flow structure of the bubbling fluidized bed. The low value of t50 results in poor contact between phases, and the complete exit age of the overflow particles is much longer for back-mixed solids and those caught in dead regions. The formation of a gulf-stream flow and back-mixing for solids induces an even wider spread of RTD.

Drag Effects of Solute and Second Phase Distributions on the Grain Growth Kinetics of Pre-Extruded Mg-6Zn Alloy

In order to control the grain size during hot forming,grain growth behavior of a pre-extruded Mg-6Zn magnesium alloy and its correlation with solute and second phase distribution were investigated.Isothermal annealing was conducted on a Gleeble-1500 thermo-mechanical simulator.The mean grain size Dg of each annealed specimen was measured by the quantitative metallography technique.The grain growth kinetics of the Mg-6Zn alloy annealed at 473-623 K was obtained as Dg^4- Dg0^4=2.25 ×10^11 exp（-95450）by the least square linear regression method.The deviation of grain growth exponent n = 4 from the theoretical value of 2 may be attributed to the presence of solute zinc and second phases which will retard the boundary migration.Microscopic observations show that the non-uniform distribution of grain size for samples pre-extruded or annealed at low temperatures is closely related to the non-uniform distribution of fine and dispersed second phases but not to the non-uniform distribution of solute zinc.This indicates that second phase pinning effect plays an important role in microstructure refinement.