TITLE:
Numerical Investigation of Particle Rebound Characteristics with Finite Element Method
AUTHORS:
Mehdi Azimian, Hans-Jörg Bart
KEYWORDS:
Finite Element Method (FEM), ANSYS Autodyn, Single Particle Impact, Restitution Coefficient, Friction Coefficient
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Fluid Dynamics,
Vol.7 No.3,
September
14,
2017
ABSTRACT: In this work, investigation of particle rebound characteristics due to impact with surface of a target material is presented. The rebound of a spherical particle after impact on a planar surface was analyzed in detail. Specifically, the coefficient of restitution of the particle under various impact conditions was investigated numerically. This study has been conducted by carrying out a series of FEM-based (finite element method) simulations using ANSYS Autodyn software. First, a summary about the state of the art and the theoretical models for the elastic collisions were reviewed. Afterwards, the impact of an aluminum oxide particle on an aluminum alloy target surface was modeled. Using the Autodyn tool, the results were compared and validated by the experimental results of Gorham and Kharaz [1]. Selection of an appropriate equation of state (EOS) and a strength model for each material had a strong effect on the results. For both materials, the Shock EOS was applied for the final simulations. As the strength model, the Johnson-Cook and the elastic model were used, respectively. The agreement of the obtained numerical results with the experimental data confirmed that the proposed model can precisely predict the real behavior of the particle after the impact, when the material models are properly chosen. Furthermore, the effects of impact velocity and impact angle on the rebound characteristics of the particle were analyzed in detail. It was found that the selection of the exact value of friction coefficient has a drastic effect on the prediction of restitution coefficient values, especially the tangential restitution coefficient.