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This paper presents a numerical study of the packing of nonspherical particles by the use of the discrete element method. The shapes considered are oblate and prolate spheroids, with the aspect ratio varying from 0.1 to 7.0. It is shown that the predicted relationship between packing fraction and aspect ratio is consistent with those reported in the literature. Ellipsoids can pack more densely than spheres. The maximum packing fraction occurs at an aspect ratio of 0.6 for oblate spheroids, and 1.80 for prolate spheroids. The packing characteristics with aspect ratio are further analyzed in terms of structural parameters such as coordination number and radial distribution function. It is shown that ellipsoids with small or large aspect ratios tend to give a locally ordered structure. The results demonstrate that DEM provides a useful method to investigate the packing dynamics of ellipsoidal particles.

This paper reports a numerical study of solid flow in a model blast furnace under simplified conditions by means of discrete particle simulation (DPS). The applicability of the proposed DPS approach is validated from its good agreement with the experiment in terms of solid flow patterns. It is shown that the DPS is able to generate a stagnant zone without any need for any arbitrary treatment, and capture the main features of solid flow within the furnace at a microscopic level. The results confirm that the solid flow in a blast furnace can be divided into four different flow regions. However, the flow is strongly influenced by the front and rear walls in a 2D slot model furnace whereas the predicted stagnant zone decreases significantly with wall sliding friction. In a 3D model with periodic boundary conditions incorporated, a smaller stagnant zone is obtained. The effects of solid flow rate, particle properties such as sliding and rolling friction coefficients on the solid flow are also investigated. The results are analysed in terms of solid flow patterns, solid velocity field, porosity distribution and normal force structure. The implication to blast furnace operation is discussed.

This paper presents an experimental study of the coordination number of binary packings by the use of the liquid bridge technique and provides detailed information about the distributed coordination numbers corresponding to different types of contacts between small and large components and their dependence on particle size distribution. The results indicate that increasing the volume fraction of small component increases the small-to-small and large-to-small contacts and decreases the small-to-large and large-to-large contacts; and this trend is more apparent for a packing with a large size difference. For the packings under gravity, the overall mean coordination number is essentially a constant and independent of particle size distribution.