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Dynamics of a Sliding Particle in a Rotating DrumPrimary tabs

The motion of a sliding particle, influenced by friction, in a rotating drum is investigated. A differential equation is formulated for general friction laws. Assuming a constant coefficient of friction, the equation is exactly solvable. For a velocity dependent coefficient of friction, perturbation methods may be used. The nonperturbed system is solved and with the help of the averaging method, the perturbed system can be examined for periodic motions.

Efficient Collision Detection for MD-Simulations

The most time consuming part in molecular dynamics simulations is the collision detection. Usually, this problem is solved by restricting theshape of the particles to spheres. I will present an algorithm, originally developed for virtual reality visualizations by D.Baraff and M.C.Lin, that enables us to use complex polyhedra  (up to 920 faces and more). The expected run time is  O(N), where N is the number of particles in the simulation. Neither complexity nor shape of the particles affect the run time.

Pressure Distribution and stresses under granular heaps with the Distinct Element Method

We investigate the stresses and pressures under a 2-dimensional heap using a simulation of convex polygonal particles. Former Experiments and simulations on granular cones strongly suggest that for cones no generic pressure distribution exists but that the pressure and stress distribution is highly sensitive to the size distribution of the grains and the building history of the heap.

Shared Memory Parallelization for Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Non-spherical Granular Materials

The problem of granular materials is not alone a problem of material properties, but also a problem of structures. To examine these  interesting systems, one uses molecular dynamics simulations. The objective of the work presented here was to have a program which can run on cheap high-end shared memory workstations. Therefore we have developed  a fast thread-based simulation of polygonal particles.

Stress in Static Sandpiles

We are interested in the stress distribution in static granular matter. Experiments have found a minimum of the vertical normal stress beneath the apex of a sandpile. Because of the indeterminacy of static friction force even in the simplest sandpile and the ensuing absence of a constitutive relation between stress and strain (Hooke's law) there is no closed set of equations. Continuum theories, trying to describe the dip, have to make assumptions on the existence of constitutive relations among the components of the stress tensor itself.

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