Discrete Element Simulation of Collision-Rich Dynamics of Wet Granular Flows Down an Inclined Channel

This paper proposes a numerical scheme that employs the discrete element method (DEM) to simulate the motion of a wet granular flow down an inclined channel. To account for the liquid influences on the dynamics between paired particles, this paper presents a wet soft-sphere contact model with liquid-modified parameters. The developed scheme takes full advantage of DEM and avoids the expensive simulation of the solid-liquid interactions with conventional Navier-Stokes equation solver. This wet contact model has been implemented in an in-housed parallel discrete objects simulation system — KNIGHT and ANNE/IRIS to compute the dynamic behaviors of both dry and wet granular particles flowing down an inclined channel.