DEM simulation of granular flow in a 3D Cuboid Hopper

Granular flows in hopper have been extensively studied by means of the discrete element method (DEM) in the past. However, these studies are mainly focused on the small scale hopper, and the dynamic behavior of the granular flow in hopper has not been fully understood. In this paper, granular flow in a large scale cuboid hopper with flat bottom is investigated based on the results generated by DEM simulations. The spatial and statistical distributions of micro-dynamic variables such as particle velocity and inter-particle force are established. A small scale hopper which has the similar geometry to the large one is also considered for comparison. The results show that clearer distributions of the particle scale properties can be obtained with the large scale hopper, which should be useful for a more comprehensive understanding of the complex dynamic behavior of the granular flow.