Effect of liquid bridge forces on agglomerate collisions

The redundancy and complexity of particle systems lend themselves to computer simulated experimentation. Most previous computer simulations using the distinct element method (DEM) were applied to dry, non-cohesive particle systems and only a few have been concerned with dry, cohesive particle systems. This paper considers the application of the computer program TRUBAL to the modelling of moist particle systems. Computer simulated normal collisions of two moist agglomerates each consisting of 1000 particles with a degree of saturation of 0.71% have been performed. Some preliminary results of the relative energy dissipated by viscous damping and plastic deformation of the agglomerates are presented and discussed in terms of the micro-level properties of the pendular liquid bridges.