Particles in Industrial & Manufacturing Processes
A wide-range of industrial processes and modern manufacturing techniques involve particles, powders, or particle-laden flows. Many commonly observed phenomena in these processes are essentially discrete in nature, including phenomena like aggregation, fragmentation, and transport and size segregation. Traditional continuum models are not efficient at resolving such phenomena. Discrete element methods provide a suitable alternative, being essentially mesh-free. A major goal of my work has been the development of discrete particle frameworks with hierarchically assembled, coupled multi-physics models at the individual particle level, for process simulations and identification of emergent system behavior.
Particle spray deposition processes:
Deposition of particulate sprays is an application that I have studied extensively using these multi-physics discrete particle methods. The computational method accounted for fluid-particle, particle-particle, and particle-surface interactions, and employed a novel, kinematic description of particle adhesion which I devised specifically for particle based industrial processes. The framework was able to capture the growth of particulate spray deposit pattern on a target surface, and the observed trends for deposit properties and microstructure agreed well with available data in the literature. |
Electromagnetically guided particle streams:
The ability to guide streams of particles using externally applied electromagnetic fields can be valuable in a range of applications, and thus has been a topic of interest for my research. Many aspects of process engineering for such applications are not quite fully understood. To address this, I developed discrete particle dynamics models accounting for mechanics, thermomechanics, and electromagnetics, for modeling streams of particle guided by electric and magnetic fields. Using this simulation tool, I extensively investigated the electromagnetic guiding of charged particulate sprays to enhance deposition efficiency, and established the design for an innovative process for healing piping systems non-invasively using magnetic particles. |
Composite materials with embedded particles:
Particulate phase dispersed or embedded in a solid/matrix often forms the basis for designing materials with tailored properties and microstructure. The design spaces for such materials can be computationally explored to find optimal combinations of particles and matrix phase properties. Using fictitious domain finite element based micro-macro homogenization techniques, I have investigated design of such particulate composite materials with arbitrary shaped (non-spherical, geometrically anisotopic) particles. Once established, the design space can be searched for optimal design parameters for a desired effective material property using genetic algorithms. |