A DEM‐based method for predicting the wear evolution of structural boundary composed of spherical boundary elements

Abstract

Summary In the discrete element method (DEM) simulation for wear prediction, structural boundary is now represented extensively by triangular meshes with high resolution, which brings a huge computational cost. A DEM‐based method for predicting the wear evolution of structural boundary has been developed for computational efficiency. The structural boundary subjected to wear is represented by the spherical boundary elements in the DEM simulation in combination with the inside triangles and fitting curved surface in wear prediction. Wear prediction is performed through a series of evolution steps. In each evolution step, the collision energies by particles at structural boundary are collected via the DEM simulation and assigned to the boundary elements. Then, the volume losses of structural boundary are predicted across each relevant boundary element. Finally, the new geometry of structural boundary in response to wear is described by moving the boundary elements along the depths of wear individually. Through converting the contact detection between structural boundary and particles into between spherical boundary elements and particles, our method greatly reduces the computational cost in the DEM simulation. Through two numerical tests, our method has been verified to be an efficient and accurate method for the wear prediction of structural boundaries with different resolutions.

Physical Experiments and DEM Simulations for Erosion of Iron Target by Two Impingements of Al₂O₃ Particle with Impingement Angles of Double 90º

“…Then, three corresponding numerical tests are conducted using the Discrete Element Method (DEM), which can provide a feasible way for predicting the worn surface morphology of target caused by multi-particle erosion. DEM is a numerical method for modeling collision of a target with a particular system composed of tens of thousands or even millions particles [7], while can also be suitable to a collision between a target and an erosive particle [8].…”

Characterization of Microscopic Damage Evolution of Functional Groove in Cageless Bearings

“…Predicted and Analyzed values of the number of micro-crack were evaluated, and the number of separated particles and wear rate of ceramic tools by discrete element simulation was determined [27]. Fang proposes a method for predicting the wear evolution of structural boundaries based on the discrete element method, which represents the worn structural boundaries by spherical boundary units and reduces the computational effort of discrete element simulation by transforming the contact detection between structural boundaries and particles into contact detection between spherical boundary units and particles [28]. Zhang established a mechanical model of the wear body surface based on the discrete element method, and Zhang used discrete element software to establish the step, convexity, and scale arrangement structure of the wear surface and its abrasive wear system.…”