Simulations of configurational and granular temperatures of particles using DEM in roller conveyor

•The concept of configurational temperature is proposed based on instantaneous overlaps of particles.•The configurational temperature decreases with the increase of solids volume fractions.•The configurational temperature increases with the increase of rotation speed of rollers.•Configurational temperature and translational and rotational granular temperature are predicted in roller conveyor.

The configurational temperature and translational and rotational granular temperatures of particles are simulated by means of discrete element method (DEM) in the roller conveyor. Motion of particles in the roller conveyor is predicted with the change of rotation speed. The distributions of velocity and volume fraction of particles are obtained along bed height. The translational and rotational granular temperatures are calculated from simulated instantaneous translational and angular velocities of particles. The configurational temperatures of particles are calculated from simulated instantaneous overlaps of particles. The simulated results show that the translational and rotational granular temperatures and configurational temperature of particles decrease with the increase of solids volume fractions. The predicted configurational temperatures are larger than that translational and rotational granular temperature, indicating that the rate of energy dissipation do contributes by sliding and rolling contact deformation of elastic particles in the roller conveyor. The lowest translational granular temperature means that the rotational mechanism dominates in the roller conveyor. The influence of rotation speeds of rollers on granular temperatures and configurational temperature is analyzed.

Graphical abstractConfigurational and translational and rotational granular temperatures increase with the increase of rotation speed in roller conveyor.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide