DEM simulation of particle flow on a single deck banana screen

A mathematical study of particle flow on a banana screen deck using the discrete element method (DEM) was presented in this paper. The motion characteristics and penetrating mechanisms of particles on the screen deck were studied. Effects of geometric parameters of screen deck on banana screening process were also investigated. The results show that when the values of inclination of discharge and increment of screen deck inclination are 10° and 5° respectively, the banana screening process get a good screening performance in the simulation. The relationship between screen deck length and screening efficiency was further confirmed. The conclusion that the screening efficiency will not significantly increase when the deck length L≥430 mm (L/B ≥ 3.5) was obtained, which can provide theoretical basis for the optimization of banana screen.

Numerical simulation of coal wall cutting and lump coal formation in a fully mechanized mining face

It is difficult to accurately calculate the lump coal rate in a fully mechanized mining face.Therefore,a numerical simulation of the coal wall cutting process,which revealed the crack expansion,development,evolution in the coal body and the corresponding lump coal formation mechanism,was performed in PFC2D.Moreover,a correlation was established between the cutting force and lump coal formation,and a statistical analysis method was proposed to determine the lump coal rate.The following conclusions are drawn from the results:(1)Based on a soft ball model,a coal wall cutting model is established.By setting the roller parameters based on linear bonding and simulating the roller cutting process of the coal body,the coal wall cutting process is effectively simulated,and accurate lump coal rate statistics are provided.(2)Under the cutting stress,the coal body in the working face underwent three stages—microfracture generation,fracture expansion,and fracture penetration—to form lump coal,in which the fracture direction is orthogonal to the cutting pressure chain.Within a certain range from the roller,as the cutting depth of the roller increased,the number of new fractures in the coal body first increases and then stabilizes.(3)Under the cutting stress,the fractured coal body is locally compressed,thereby forming a compact core.The formation and destruction of the compact core causes fluctuations in the cutting force.The fluctuation amplitude is positively related to the coal mass.(4)Because the simulation does not consider secondary damage in the coal,the simulated lump coal rate is larger than the actual lump coal rate in the working face;this deviation is mainly concentrated in large lump coal with a diameter greater than 300 mm.

Experimental and numerical study on loading rate effects of rock-like material specimens containing two unparallel fissures

A series of laboratory experiments and PFC numerical simulations for rock-like material specimens containing two unparallel fissures were carried out.On the basis of experimental and numerical results,the stress-strain curves,mechanical properties,AE events,cracking behavior and energy characteristics were analyzed to reveal the macro-mechanical behavior and meso-mechanism of pre-fissured specimens under different loading rates.Investigated results show that:1)When the loading rate is relatively low,the stress-strain curves show a brittle response.When the loading rate is relatively high,the curve shows a more ductile response.Both of the peak strength and elastic mudulus increase with the increase of loading rate,which can be expressed as power functions.2)Four crack types are identified,i.e.,tensile crack,shear crack,far-field crack and surface spalling.Moreover,the tensile crack,far-field crack and surface spalling are under tensile mechanism,while the shear crack is under shear mechanism.3)The drops of the stress-strain curves all correspond to the crack initiation or coalescence,which is also linked to a sudden increasing in the accumulated micro-crack curve.4)Both of the maximum bond force and energy have the similar trend with the increase of loading rate to peak strength,which indicates that the trend of peak strength can be explained by the meso-mechanics and energy.

Impacts of Disk Rock Sample Geometric Dimensions on Shear Fracture Behavior in a Punch Shear Test

Punch shear tests have been widely used to determine rock shear mechanical properties but without a standard sample geometric dimension suggestion.To investigate the impacts of sample geometric dimensions on shear behaviors in a punch shear test,simulations using Particle Flow Code were carried out.The effects of three geometric dimensions(i.e.,disk diameter,ratio of shear surface diameter to disk diameter,and ratio of disk height to shear surface diameter)were discussed.Variations of shear strength,shear stiffness,and shear dilatancy angles were studied,and the fracture processes and patterns of samples were investigated.Then,normal stress on the shear surface during test was analyzed and a suggested disk geometric dimension was given.Simulation results show that when the ratio of the shear surface diameter to the disk diameter and the ratio of disk height to the shear surface diameter is small enough,the shear strength,shear stiffness,and shear dilatancy angles are extremely sensitive to the three geometric parameters.If the ratio of surface diameter to disk diameter is too large or the ratio of disk height to surface diameter is too small,a part of the sample within the shear surface will fail due to macro tensile cracks,which is characterized by break off.Samples with a greater ratio of disk height to shear surface diameter,namely when the sample is relatively thick,crack from one end to the other while others crack from both ends towards the middle.During test,the actual normal stress on the shear surface is greater than the target value because of the extra compressive stress from the part of sample outside shear surface.