(85f) A Three-Dimensional Cellular Automata Framework to Model Granular Shear Flows

Granular flows continue to be a complex problem in nature and industrial sectors where solid particles exhibit solid, liquid, and gaseous behavior in a manner which is often difficult to predict both locally and globally. A popular method in the modeling and prediction of granular flows is the discrete element method (DEM), which provides a rigorous physical treatment of particle interactions, and has been shown to be the “gold standard” for simulating many granular systems. One preliminary supplement to a DEM-based design or engineering analysis framework is cellular automata (CA). The CA modeling framework provides a platform for obtaining fast first-order approximations of simple and complex granular systems in the kinetic regime, and recently, in two-phase or transitional regimes (where both the frictional and kinetic regime are present) as well. It has the flexibility to employ rule-based mathematics, first-principle physics, or both to rapidly model physical processes, such as granular flows. Prior physics-based two-dimensional (2D) CA models were developed to predict granular flow in a 2D annular Couette shear cell. In this work, these previous 2D models are extended into the third-dimension to model a three-dimensional (3D) Couette shear cell. This specifically involves the expansion of a CA particle’s interaction neighborhood to now include out-of-plane neighbor cells. The predictive capabilities of the newly developed 3D model are tested and validated against experimental results. Expanding the CA framework for granular shear flows into 3D, expands the scope and applicability of the CA framework. More specifically, it allows for the framework to be more easily extended and applied to more realistic and complicated engineering applications.