Music of grain crushing with the Discrete Element Method

A series of compression tests on agglomerates of microspheres representing a single grain are conducted to investigate the impact of heterogeneity on the acoustic emissions (AE) generation. The grain heterogeneity is realized by using a Weibull shape parameter-augmented traditional discrete element method (DEM). During the compression process the development of the micro-cracks, and the magnitude and location of the AE events are tracked and recorded. Through a 3D visualization of the AE events, their location and the clustered broken bonds are identified. The current study demonstrates the potential of AE measurements to track changes in the fabric and structure of granular materials. The results of this DEM study will contribute to clarify the mechanism of particle breakage and its consideration in practical applications.