Discrete Element Simulation on Particle Piling

Piling with particulate materials is common in agricultural engineering. Angle of repose is an important macroscopic feature in characterising the interactions within an assembly of particles, therefore the study on particle piling is of great importance for understanding its microscope mechanics and evaluate the suitability of the DEM model. In this paper ‘two-dimensional’piling with multi-disperse particles were simulated using Discrete Element Method. The effects of frictions of both particle and particle arrangement on the magnitude of repose angle were studied. The numerical results show that, under identical conditions, increasing friction of particles and base wall leads to the rise of the repose angle. On the contrary, increasing density of particles will decrease the angle of repose.