Building a Bridge Between the Particle Scale and the Bulk Scale Properties

Understanding agglomeration or attrition of a collection of particles bound together requires an understanding of the key binding forces between particles, particle scale mechanical properties, tomography of particles, particle shape, particle size distribution, and the interaction of all adjacent particles. There are dozens of potential variables that could be investigated to determine their effect on key bulk scale property effects. Not all of these properties have a primary effect on bulk scale properties. The question is where to put the resources to be able to link the particle scale world to the bulk world. This presentation will demonstrate that, of all the bulk scale properties, the most critical one to understand is the concept of unconfined yield strength, and which particle scale properties have primary influence on unconfined yield strength. When viewed from the particle scale, strength is a mechanistic property. We will present a combined theoretical and experimental procedure for determining the primary cause of strength, the magnitude of each cause, and how these causes might interact based on easily measured particle scale parameters.