2025/12/03 by Leticia M. V. da Silva, da Silva, Leticia M. V., Rocha, Erlifas Moreira +4
Engineering · #FOS: Physical sciences #Geotechnical Engineering and Soil Mechanics #Granular flow and fluidized beds #Heat and Mass Transfer in Porous Media #Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2512.03698
openalex publication_date 2025/12/03 · openalex created_date 2025/12/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
This work presents a detailed investigation of the discharge behavior of spherical granular materials through a conical--cylindrical hopper using Discrete Element Method (DEM) simulations. The aim is to assess the applicability limits of the empirical Beverloo law. The system was modeled with a monodisperse particles whose mechanical properties correspond to the Al95Fe2Cr2Ti1 alloy, and interparticle contacts were described using the Hertz--Mindlin (no slip) model. The simulations systematically explored the influence of particle diameter (d) and bed height (h) on the resulting mass flow rate (Q). The results reveal the coexistence of transient and steady-state discharge regimes. Good agreement with the Beverloo scaling was observed for relatively small diameter ratios (D/d = 10) and sufficiently large bed heights, where the flow stabilizes rapidly. For larger D/d ratios, the discharge rate decays exponentially, indicating a breakdown of the constant-hydrostatic-pressure assumption underlying the Beverloo model. A dimensionless criterion for the validity of the Beverloo law is proposed as Πh = h/D > 2, or equivalently N = h/d > 20. The quantitative agreement between DEM simulations and experimental measurements for polydisperse particle size distributions further validates the computational model and demonstrates its predictive capability for granular discharge in confined geometries.