Scalable processing of granular crystals by high-frequency oscillation

ME Torki, POWDER TECHNOLOGY, 395, 822-837 (2022).

DOI: 10.1016/j.powtec.2021.10.010

High-frequency vibration proves a fundamental step towards scalable growth in colloidal crystals. Various experimentally-replicable vibration mechanisms are hereby devised and exerted on randomly generated silicoid particles to explore geometric and dynamic effects on the induced crystal at equilibrium state. The Discrete Ele-ment Method is employed, with inter-particle contact idealized by a linear mass- spring-dashpot system with Coulomb sliding friction. With the vertical (Z) direction determined by gravity, the mechanisms comprise verti-cal, circular, and angular oscillation, with the latter realized in the plane normal to gravity. Characterization of the generated crystal is quantified by a hybrid machine-learning algorithm developed upon direct correlation be-tween the coordinate data, crystallinity and grain- surface parameters. Parametric analysis is carried out in terms of vibration parameters (frequency, amplitude and duration) and the square- prismatic box aspect ratio. Results manifest optimum values of box aspect ratio, vibration amplitude and frequency, with crystallinity parameters mostly saturating after 2 minutes of vibration. (c) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

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