Numerical study of tangential contact behaviour of spherical particle

Abstract

Numerical study of the tangential contact behaviour of the elastic frictional spherical particle is presented and the influence of numerical implementation procedures was studied. Tangential contact is assumed to follow elastic spring model. The elasticity properties are characterised by the tangential stiffness which presents in general case the time-history dependent parameter. A modified prediction of the tangential force-displacement behaviour by reaching Coulomb limit is proposed. The oblique sphere-plane interaction is considered for illustration purposes. It was found that straightforward application of routine algorithmic approach may lead to artificial jumps in stick-slip transition points. On the contrary, the suggested prediction provides physically adjustable results. Moreover, evaluation of the tangential direction may also significantly contribute to numerical solutions. Investigation of particle’s tangential contacts is continued by considering multi-particle systems.