Study of the particle flow and mixing behaviours in a blade mixer by finite element method

In this paper, a numerical model based on the Eulerian finite element method (FEM) recently proposed [1] is established to study the particle flows and mixing behaviours in a blade mixer. The model treats the granular material in the cylindrical mixer as a continuum medium under the constitutive law of Mohr-Coulomb relationship and the blade as a rigid body rotating about the shaft at a certain speed. This work aims at validating the continuum approach by comparing the FEM results with the previous work under the same circumstance via discrete element method (DEM) simulation [2]. The results show that the FEM model is able to reproduce some prominent features of the mixer system such as the spatial profile of particle bed, the recirculating flow pattern, and the evolution of mixing pattern. It is indicated that the Eulerian FEM could be a more effective continuum approach applied in studying mixing processes in various mixers with complex geometries.