Sintering simualtion

[ashwakumar]

I want to simulate the sintering process (powder compaction + sintering ) at a granular scale. There is some work available by using multi-particle FEM (MPFEM). I want to develop this model in Kratos. The model should contain powder particles as DEM particles and each particle can deform (FEM) by application of load and temperature. Which application is more convenient to develop this model? Do we have some application that is close to this application?

Many thanks in advance!

Scope -DEM -FEM

[rubenzorrilla]

Pointing to @KratosMultiphysics/dem team as they would better answer to this query.

[salvalatorre]

Good morning,

You might have a look at ThermalDEMApplication. @rlrangel

[ashwakumar]

Dear Salva Latorre, Thank you for your reply. I will have a look at ThermalDEMApplicaiton. Is there any scope for using the PFEM application in the sintering process modeling? best Ashwani

[salvalatorre]

Maybe @josep-m-carbonell or @AFranci have some ideas! Regards

[rlrangel]

Hi @ashwakumar.

In fact, there is the implementation of a DEM particle related to sintering in the ThermalDEMApplication.

For example, you can have a look at the class sintering_spheric_continuum_particle.

Actually, this implementation was in the DEMApplication and I moved it to the ThermalDEMApplication when I created this application because it is related to a thermal problem.

However, I don't have much clue on how it works, or even if it is working.

I believe that it needs to be reviewed and fixed to be compatible with the rest of the implementations of the ThermalDEMApplication.

Regards.

[maceligueta]

Hi @ashwakumar , I myself ran some computations with the sintering particle. With temperature increase, they were capable to create new bonds with the neighbour particles, so the packing was becoming stonger with temperature. Not 100% realistic, but could mimic some features of reality. It was a simple concept but it took a while to code and it was abandoned in a development branch because computations were just too expensive. With such small particles and so long time processes, we could just run small numbers of particles. Tha abandoned branch is probably incompatible with current Kratos because that was before the creation of the ThermalDEMApplication.

[ashwakumar]

Dear @rlrangel Thank you, I will have a look at this. Currently, we don't have the capability of a deformed particle in the DEM application, right? For eg, a FEM mesh inside the DEM particle and on the application of force from an adjacent particle will deform.

[ashwakumar]

Dear @maceligueta, Thank you for your reply. Can you share the branch separately, I can have a look and if it helps, I can try to make it compatible with current KRATOS.

[maceligueta]

This is the branch I was working on: https://github.com/KratosMultiphysics/Kratos/tree/dem-sintering-fixes

[maceligueta]

Dear @rlrangel Thank you, I will have a look at this. Currently, we don't have the capability of a deformed particle in the DEM application, right? For eg, a FEM mesh inside the DEM particle and on the application of force from an adjacent particle will deform.

No, we never tried this approach.

[rlrangel]

Dear @rlrangel Thank you, I will have a look at this. Currently, we don't have the capability of a deformed particle in the DEM application, right? For eg, a FEM mesh inside the DEM particle and on the application of force from an adjacent particle will deform.

This approach is sometimes called Finite-Discrete Element Method (FDEM). But, as maceligueta said, it is not implemented.