A kinematics-based model for the settling of gravity-driven arbitrary-shaped particles on a surface

A discrete model is proposed for settling of an arbitrary-shaped particle onto a flat surface under the gravitational field. In this method, the particle dynamics is calculated such that (a) the particle does not create an overlap with the wall and (b) reaches a realistic equilibrium state, which are not guaranteed in the conventional discrete element methods that add a repulsive force (torque) based on the amount of overlap between the particle and the wall. Instead, upon the detection of collision, the particle’s kinematics is modified depending on the type of contact, i.e., point, line, and surface types, by assuming the contact point/line as the instantaneous center/line of rotation for calculating the rigid body dynamics. Two different stability conditions are implemented by comparing the location of the projection of the center of mass on the wall along gravity direction against the contact points to identify the equilibrium (stable) state on the wall for particles with multiple contact points. A variety of simulations are presented, including smooth surface particles (ellipsoids), regular particles with sharp edges (cylinders and pyramids) and irregular-shaped particles, to show that the method can provide the analytically-known equilibrium state.