Volume-interacting level set discrete element method: The porosity and angle of repose of aspherical, angular, and concave particles

Despite the many advances in the numerical modelling of granular materials using the discrete element method (DEM), the description of realistic particle shapes, especially concave shapes, remains challenging. Little is known about the effect of concavity on properties such as the powder porosity and angle of repose. In this work, the volume-interacting level set DEM (VLS-DEM) was used to study the effect of asphericity, angularity, and concavity on the porosity and angle of repose. By taking the Platonic solids and applying a hyperbolisation procedure, a continuous spectrum of shapes, ranging from rounded to highly angular, was generated and investigated. Results show that, when combined, angularity and concavity have a disproportionately large effect on the porosity and angle of repose. They also demonstrate the importance of particle shape and that even convex polyhedra may be insufficient to accurately capture the effect of shape on fundamental powder properties.