Magalang Tracking the motion of suspended particles in a fluid flow has been possible in CFD for some time, however it is usually performed with the assumption that the volume of the particles is small and they are allowed to all pile into the same place if the fluid takes them there.
Coari Calculating inter-particle contact and the piling up of particles is the realm of discrete element modelling. Coupled CFD DEM models have been possible for a number of years but it is by no means main stream modelling.
Here we present a coupled DEM CFD simulation whereby a pile of particles (underwater) in a narrow channel is blown along by a jet of water at floor level. The fluid is able to impart momentum to the particles, and the removal of momentum from the fluid changes the velocity flow field accordingly. Note that not only is this a coupled DEM CFD model, but that the CFD model is two phase with an interface solver. This is typical of mineral wet-process situations such as feed-boxes and screens.