Segregation behavior of particles with Gaussian distributions in the rotating drum with rolling regime

The mixing and segregation of granular materials are essential to provide valuable insights and references for practical industrial production. In this paper, the segregation behaviors of particles with Gaussian dis-tributions and 40% filling level in the rotating drum with rolling regime were numerically studied by the discrete element method. The effects of rotation speed and particle size parameter k (size ratio of the lar-gest versus smallest particles) on the segregation behavior (mixing index, segregation rate), flow charac-teristics (particle velocity and trajectory, gyration degree and radius, particle size distributions) and the microscopic properties (collision, contact force, axial diffusion, and kinetic energy) of granular systems were systematically investigated. The results show that the segregation rate and degree of particles with Gaussian distributions gradually increase with the increase of the rotation speed and particle size param-eter k. The radial and axial segregation patterns become more obvious with the increase of k. And the variation of the flow characteristics of particles with different sizes in the same system is also inconsis-tent. The microscopic properties of Gaussian-dispersed particles change with the rotation speed and k. The rapid radial segregation depends on the larger pores existed in the granular system, which leads to a gradual increase of the axial dispersion coefficient of large particles and a gradual decrease of the axial dispersion coefficient of small particles. (c) 2023 The Society of Powder Technology Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. and The Society of Powder Technology Japan. All rights reserved.