The applicability of SPH and MPS methods to numerical flow simulation of fresh cementitious materials

Abstract This paper aims to clarify applicability of two variants of SPH and MPS methods, namely, a weakly compressible SPH (WCSPH) and a completely implicit MPS (I-MPS) to the flow simulation of freshly mixed cementitious materials (FCM). By comparing the numerical and experimental results of L-flow of fresh mortars, it is found that the I-MPS method has higher calculation efficiency and accuracy. The applicability of the WCSPH method to the gravity-induced flow simulation of FCM is dependent on its fluidity and initial height, whereas the I-MPS method has wide application range if the boundary slippage resistance is appropriately considered. In case of fresh mortar, the I-MPS simulations, using Bingham model and VGM (Viscous Granular Material) model, has almost the same accuracy when the mortar is subjected to a high pressure, whereas the VGM model has high accuracy in case of low pressure. When a large gravity-induced pressure or a large external force acts on FCM, the WCSPH calculates greatly fluctuating inter-particle pressures, while the I-MPS method yields very stable and precise inter-particle pressures.