particles becomes sticky

Submitted by rashid minhas on Sat, 07/08/2017 - 18:58

Hi,
I have a problem with multisphere particles simulation.
when i use same case for simple spherical particles mixing, my results are good but when i used multisphere particles ( 2 or more sphere clumped together to form particle) then particles becomes cohesive and no mixing occurs between particles. i created multisphere particles according to code given in following link
https://www.cfdem.com/media/DEM/docu/fix_particletemplate_multisphere.html

Following is sample code for the multi sphere with three spheres forming a rod like a shape. kindly tell me why particles become cohesive.

atom_style sphere
atom_modify map array
boundary f f f
newton off

communicate single vel yes

units si

region cyl cylinder z 0. 0. 0.075 0. 0.320 units box
create_box 2 cyl

neighbor 0.003 bin
neigh_modify delay 0

#Material properties required for new pair styles

fix m1 all property/global youngsModulus peratomtype 5.e6 5.e6
fix m2 all property/global poissonsRatio peratomtype 0.45 0.45
fix m3 all property/global coefficientRestitution peratomtypepair 2 0.95 0.95 0.95 0.95
fix m4 all property/global coefficientFriction peratomtypepair 2 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05
fix m5 all property/global coefficientRollingFriction peratomtypepair 2 0.01 0. 0. 0.

#New pair style
pair_style gran model hertz tangential history #Hertzian without cohesion
pair_coeff * *
#physical characteristics of particles:

fix pts1 all particletemplate/multisphere 123457 atom_type 1 density constant 2456 nspheres 3 ntry 1000000 &
spheres 0. 0. 0. 0.0015 0.0015 0. 0. 0.0015 0.003 0. 0. 0.0015 type 1
fix pdd1 all particledistribution/discrete 15485863 1 pts1 1.0

fix pts2 all particletemplate/multisphere 123457 atom_type 2 density constant 2456 nspheres 3 ntry 1000000 &
spheres 0. 0. 0. 0.0015 0.0015 0. 0. 0.0015 0.003 0. 0. 0.0015 type 2
fix pdd2 all particledistribution/discrete 15485867 1 pts2 1.0

#import mesh from cad:
fix zwalls1 all wall/gran model hertz tangential history primitive type 1 zplane 0.020
fix zwalls2 all wall/gran model hertz tangential history primitive type 1 zplane 0.33
fix cylwalls all wall/gran model hertz tangential history primitive type 1 zcylinder 0.072 0. 0.

# Import mesh
fix cad2 all mesh/surface file meshes/impeller.stl type 1 curvature 1e-5

# Imported mesh as granular wall:
fix mixer all wall/gran model hertz tangential history mesh n_meshes 1 meshes cad2

#integrator

fix integrate all multisphere

#gravity

fix gravi all gravity 9.81 vector 0.0 0.0 -1.0

#Timestep
timestep 0.00001

#Area where the particle are introduced from is set:

region factory cylinder z 0. 0. 0.068 0. 0.3 units box

#

#thermo setting
compute 1 all erotate/sphere
fix ts all check/timestep/gran 1000 0.1 0.1
thermo_style custom step atoms ke c_1 f_ts[1] f_ts[2] vol
thermo 1000
thermo_modify lost ignore norm no

#insert the first particles so that dump is not empty
#fix ctg all check/timestep/gran 1 0.01 0.01
#run 1
#unfix ctg

#defines how the insertion is going to be done:
#particle insertion-large particles
fix ins1 all insert/rate/region seed 67867967 distributiontemplate pdd1 &
nparticles 4000 particlerate 10000 insert_every 1000 &
overlapcheck yes vel constant 0. 0. -2.0 region factory ntry_mc 10000

run 90000
unfix ins1

#particle insertion small particles
fix ins2 all insert/rate/region seed 67867979 distributiontemplate pdd2 &
nparticles 4000 particlerate 10000 insert_every 1000 &
overlapcheck yes vel constant 0. 0. -2.0 region factory ntry_mc 10000

run 90000
unfix ins2

#make a dump of particles and the stl file
dump dmp all custom/vtk 200 post1/multi_*.vtk id type mol x y z vx vy vz fx fy fz omegax omegay omegaz radius
dump dumpstl all mesh/gran/VTK 200 post1/mesh_*.vtk stress wear cad2

run 10000

#rotate central shaft
fix movecad2 all move/mesh mesh cad2 rotate origin 0. 0. 0. axis 0. 0. 1. period -2

#run 5 seconds
run 1200000
unfix movecad2
run 100000

can any one help me why particles become cohesive as i am not using any command or property that give cohesiveness to particles.
thanks in advance

arnom's picture

arnom | Thu, 07/20/2017 - 08:00

Hi,

it's difficult to say what happens without any images or video of the simulation.

Best,
Arno

DCS team member & LIGGGHTS(R) core developer

rashid minhas | Fri, 07/21/2017 - 11:55

Hi arnom,
I have attached an image of simulation that shows particles stick to the impeller rod and also with each other. when the simulation run no mixing with particles occurs they just revolve with the impeller. but when I used only spherical particles in this code all done well no particle sticks and i can see the proper mixing of two different types spherical particles. is there any issue with multi sphere command?
thanks

arnom's picture

arnom | Fri, 07/21/2017 - 14:02

Please upload the impeller.stl file so that I can run your case on my machine. I will try and reproduce your result and see if it indeed a bug.

DCS team member & LIGGGHTS(R) core developer

rashid minhas | Fri, 07/21/2017 - 16:58

Hi arnom,
Thanks for your help. I have uploaded the impeller.stl file
please help me I have just one month remaining to submit my project.

thanks again

aaigner's picture

aaigner | Sat, 07/22/2017 - 21:30

Hi!
Your particles are not cohesive, they are partly within your impeller. You have to define a better factory region. The region must exclude the impeller.

Regards
Andreas

rashid minhas | Sat, 07/22/2017 - 23:08

Hi,
Alright but when I use simple spherical particles than no particle is trapped in the impeller and also mixing between particles occurs by the rotation of impeller but in the case of multi spherical particles ( by clumping different sphere to form non-spherical shape) than no mixing occurs particles just revolves with the impeller.
you can check this by running this code on your machine.
thanks

estefan31 | Mon, 07/24/2017 - 05:28

I've noticed similar phenomena with my own simulations, and not just with LIGGGHTS. Sometimes my multisphere particles can get stuck on walls when one sphere penetrates the wall further than its radius. Then that sphere interacts with one side of the wall while the other constituent sphere(s) interact with the opposite side of the wall, causing the multisphere particle to become stuck. Reducing the timestep generally solves this problem by not allowing the spheres to move too far in one step. This might be your problem based on the image you attached.