Simulation of Upward Seepage Flow in a Single Column of Spheres Using Discrete-Element Method with Fluid-Particle Interaction
Publication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133, Issue 1
Abstract
The interaction between soil particles and pore water makes the behavior of saturated and unsaturated soil complex. In this note, upward seepage flow through a granular material was idealized using a one-column particle model. The motion of the individual particles was numerically simulated using the discrete-element method taking the interaction with the fluid into account. The fluid behavior was simulated by the Navier-Stokes equation using the semi-implicit method for pressure-linked equation. This approach has already been applied in powder engineering applications. However, there are very few studies that have used this approach in geotechnical engineering. This note first describes the qualitative and quantitative validation of this method for hydraulic gradients below the critical one by comparing the results with an analytical solution. Then, the ability of the method to simulate the macroscale behavior due to the interaction between particles and pore water at hydraulic gradients exceeding the critical hydraulic gradient is discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was mainly conducted at the University of Southern California in the United States where the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology supported the first writer’s visit. Further, it was supported in part by the Maeda Engineering Foundation’s Research Grant. Grateful appreciation is expressed for these supports. The writers also thank Chandra S. Desai, Regents’ Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz., for his insightful comments on this note.
References
Anderson, T. B., and Jackson, R. (1967). “A fluid mechanical description of fluidized beds.” Ind. Eng. Chem. Fundam., 6(4), 527–539.
Biot, M. A. (1941). “General theory of three-dimensional consolidation.” J. Appl. Phys., 12(2), 155–164.
Bouillard, J. X., Lyczkowski, R. W., and Gidaspow, D. (1989). “Porosity distributions in a fluidized bed with an immersed obstacle.” AIChE J., 35(6), 908–922.
Carslaw, H., and Jaeger, J. C. (1959). Conduction of heat in solids, 2nd Ed., Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
Cundall, P. A., and Struck, O. D. L. (1979). “A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies.” Geotechnique, 29(1), 47–65.
El Shamy, U., and Zeghal, M. (2005). “Coupled continuum-discrete model for saturated granular soils.” J. Eng. Mech., 131(4), 413–426.
Ergun, S. (1952). “Fluid flow through packed columns.” Chem. Eng. Prog., 48(2), 89–94.
Hakuno, M., and Tarumi, Y. (1987). “A granular assembly simulation for the liquefaction of sand and quicksand.” Bull. Earthquake Res. Inst., Univ. Tokyo, 62, 535–577 (in Japanese).
Kawaguchi, T., Tanaka, T., and Tsuji, Y. (1998). “Numerical simulation of two-dimensional fluidized beds using the discrete element method (comparison between the two- and three-dimensional models).” Powder Technol., 96, 129–138.
Kuipers, J. A. M., Prins, W., and Van Swaaij, W. P. M. (1991). “Theoretical and experimental bubble formation at a single orifice in a two-dimensional gas-fluidized bed.” Chem. Eng. Sci., 46(11), 2895–2904.
Patankar, S. V. (1980). Numerical heat transfer and fluid flow, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Schiller, L., and Naumann, A. (1933). “Uber die grundlegen berechnungen bei der schwerkraftaufbereitung.” Zeitschrift des Vereines Deutscher Ingenieure, 77(12), 318–320 (in German).
Skempton, A. W., and Brogan, J. M. (1994). “Experiments on piping in sandy gravels.” Geotechnique, 44(3), 449–460.
Tanaka, T., Kawaguchi, T., and Tsuji, Y. (1993). “Discrete particle simulation of flow patterns in two-dimensional gas fluidized beds.” Int. J. Mod. Phys. B, 7, 1889–1893.
Terzaghi, K. (1943). Theoretical soil mechanics, Wiley, New York.
Tsuji, Y., Kawaguchi, T., and Tanaka, T. (1993). “Discrete particle simulation of two-dimensional fluidized bed.” Powder Technol., 77, 79–87.
Wen, C. Y., and Yu, Y. H. (1966). “Mechanics of fluidization.” Chem. Eng. Prog., 62(62), 100–111.
Yuu, S., Umekage, T., and Johno, Y. (2000). “Numerical simulation of air and particle motions in bubbling fluidized bed of small particles.” Powder Technol., 110, 158–168.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 133 • Issue 1 • January 2007
Pages: 104 - 109
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Oct 18, 2005
Accepted: Aug 9, 2006
Published online: Jan 1, 2007
Published in print: Jan 2007
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.