Abstract
The direct shear testers, in particular the Jenike cell, are widely used to measure the bulk material properties for the design of bulk handling equipment. This paper describes a study of the Jenike shear tester using both experiments and discrete element simulations. A total of 90 tests on spherical glass beads and paired glass beads were performed to study the influence of the particle shape, stress level and packing density on the bulk friction at limiting shear. The data are thus useful for validating particle scale simulations of densely packed granular systems. In an attempt to verify the predictive capability of discrete element method, closely matching 3-dimensional discrete element simulations of the shear tests were performed and compared with the experimental observations. The comparison for single spheres shows good quantitative agreement for the limiting bulk friction when there is a good match in the sample porosity. Further research is needed to produce a comprehensive validation of the discrete element method. Several salient observations from this study provide further insight into the roles of particle shape and contact friction on the resulting packing porosity and bulk friction.
Similar content being viewed by others
Explore related subjects
Discover the latest articles, news and stories from top researchers in related subjects.References
Lambe T.W. and Whitman R.V. (1979). Soil mechanics, SI Version. Wiley, NY
IChE: Standard shear testing technique for particulate solids using the Jenike Shear cell, IChE/EFChE joint publication (1989)
Cundall P.A. and Strack O.D.L. (1979). Discrete numerical model for granular assemblies. Geotechnique 29(1): 47–65
Zhang, L.: The behaviour of granular material in pure shear, direct shear and simple shear. Dissertation, Aston University (2003)
Thornton C. and Zhang L. (2003). Numerical simulation of the direct shear Test. Chem. Eng. Tech 26(2): 153–156
Bilgili E. (2004). Stress inhomogeneity in powder specimens tested in the Jenike shear cell: Myth or Fact. Part. Part. Syst. Charact. 21(4): 293–302
O’Sullivan C., Cui L. and Bray J.D. (2004). Three-dimensional discrete element simulations of direct shear tests. In 2nd International PFC Symposium. A.A. Balkema Publishers, Kyoto
Chung Y.C., Ooi J.Y. and Favier J.F. (2004). Measurement of mechanical properties of agricultural grains for DE models. In 17th ASCE Engineering Mechanics Conference. Netwark, USA
Chung, Y.C., Ooi, J.Y.: Experimental measurement and discrete element modelling of a dense granular medium under loading. in Joint MSME/ASCE/SES Conference on Mechanics and Materials. Louisiana, USA (2005)
Lorenz A., Tuozzolo C. and Louge M.Y. (1997). Measurements of impact properties of small, nearly spherical particles. Exp. Mech. 37(3): 292–298
Itasca Consulting Group Inc., PFC3D - Particle Flow Code in 3 Dimensions, Version 3.0, Minneapolis, USA (2003)
Tsuji Y., Tanaka T. and Ishida T. (1992). Lagrangian numerical simulation of plug flow of cohesionless particles in a horizontal pipe. Powder Tech. 71(3): 239
Chung, Y.C., Ooi, J.Y.: Confined compression and rod penetration of a dense granular medium: discrete element modelling and validation, Modern Trends in Geomechanics (2006)
Chung, Y.C.: Discrete element modelling and experimental validation of a granular solid subject to different loading conditions. Dissertation, University of Edinburgh (2006)
Walton, O.R.: Effects of interparticle friction and particle shape on dynamic angle of repose via particle-dynamics simulation. In Mechanical and Statistical Physics of Particulate Materials. California (1994)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Härtl, J., Ooi, J.Y. Experiments and simulations of direct shear tests: porosity, contact friction and bulk friction. Granular Matter 10, 263–271 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-008-0085-3
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-008-0085-3