Numerical Simulation of Sand Flow Using Molecular Dynamics Approach

ZY Zhao and J Zhang and ZS Guo, PROCEEDINGS OF GEOSHANGHAI 2018 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: FUNDAMENTALS OF SOIL BEHAVIOURS, 660-670 (2018).

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-13-0125-4_74

In view of the fact that the molecular dynamics (MD) method is similar to the discrete element method (DEM), which is suitable to model granular material and to observe the trajectory characteristic of a single particle, so to possibly identify its dynamical properties. A set of laboratory model tests of sand granular flow was performed, during which the configurations of sand granular flow were captured by the monitoring system. Thereafter the MD approach was used to study the three-dimensional gravity-driven granular flow of sand in a model box inclined at 0 degrees. In addition, the simulated sand granular flow behavior was compared with previous experimental results, which showed a high degree of similarity. This indicated that the MD method can accurately represent the evolution of the sand granular flow. Finally, it was proposed that the MD method probably can be applied for predicting the flow properties of various soil flow problems.

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