Simulation of the packing of cohesive particles

The packing behaviour of cohesive particles differs from that of coarse, cohesionless particles. To understand the underlying fundamentals, we have conducted a series of studies by means of discrete particle simulation. The forces involved vary with packing conditions. The packing structures are characterised in terms of porosity, coordination number and radial distribution function, and the particle–particle or pore–pore connectivity is analysed with the Voronoi or Delaunay tessellation. The force structures and their link with jamming states are also discussed. Structural properties are shown to be correlated with porosity which links directly to the cohesive force acting on a particle.