A computational investigation on random packings of sphere-spherocylinder mixtures

Random packings of binary mixtures of spheres and spherocylinders with the same volume and the same diameter were simulated by a sphere assembly model and relaxation algorithm. Simulation results show that, independently of the component volume fraction, the mixture packing density increases and then decreases with the growth of the aspect ratio of spherocylinders, and the packing density reaches its maximum at the aspect ratio of 0.35. With the same volume particles, results show that the dependence of the mixture packing density on the volume fraction of spherocylinders is approximately linear. With the same diameter particles, the relationship between the mixture packing density and component volume fraction is also roughly linear for short spherocylinders, but when the aspect ratio of spherocylinders is greater than 1.6, the curves turn convex which means the packing of the mixture can be denser than either the sphere or spherocylinder packing alone. To validate the sphere assembly model and relaxation algorithm, binary mixtures of spheres and random packings of spherocylinders were also simulated. Simulation results show the packing densities of sphere mixtures agree with previous prediction models and the results of spherocylinders correspond with the simulation results in literature.

Disordered packing density of binary and polydisperse mixtures of curved spherocylinders

Particle elongation is an important factor affecting the packing properties of rod-like particles. However, rod-like particles can be easily bent into non-convex shapes, in which the effect of bending should also be of concerned, To explore the shape effects of elongation and bending, together with the size and volume fraction effects on the disordered packing density of mixtures of non-convex particles, binary and polydisperse mixtures of curved spherocylinders are simulated employing sphere assembly models and the relaxation algorithm in the present work. For binary packings with the same volume, curves of the packing density versus volume fraction have good linearity, while densities are plotted as a series of equidistant curves under the condition of the same shape. The independence of size and shape effects on the packing density is verified for mixtures of curved spherocylinders. The explicit formula used to predict the density of binary mixtures, by superposing the two independent functions of the size and shape parameters, is extended to include a non-convex shape factor. A polydisperse packing with the shape factor following a uniform distribution under the condition of the same volume is equivalent to a binary mixture with certain components. The packing density is thus predicted as the mean of maximum and minimum densities employing a weighing method.