Simulation and modelling of pellets in large storing systems

This thesis is the result of a project done in request of LKAB at the Division of Solid Mechanics at Luleå University of Technology. Forming and handling of iron ore pellets is an important part in the converting process for LKAB. Knowledge about this sub process is very important for further efficiency progress and increasing product quality. The aim of this work was to create a numerical simulation tool describing the mechanics of a moving bed of iron ore pellets. A mesh free particle method called Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics has been used for the numerical simulation. The method was rewritten with equations describing granular material. A continuum material model for pellets describing the yield strength, elastic and plastic parameters has been worked out from experimental data and used in the numerical simulations. It is possible to simulate pellets flow with the SPH method for simple geometries, is concluded in this work. The axisymmetric model agrees well with 3D simulations except close to the symmetry line. Things also have to be improved around the boundary of the problem domain and more validations are necessary for reliable results.Validerat; 20101217 (root