Strength of wet agglomerates of spherical particles: effects of friction and size distribution

Abstract

We investigate the mechanical behavior of wet granular agglomerates composed of spherical particles by means of molecular dynamics simulations. The capillary cohesion force is modeled as an attraction force at the contact between two particles and expressed as an explicit function of the gap and volume of the liquid bridge. We are interested in the effect of the friction coefficient between primary particles. The agglomerates are subjected to diametrical compression tests. We find that the deformation is ductile involving particle rearrangements. However, a well-defined stress peak is observed and the peak stress is used as a measure of the compressive strength of the agglomerate. The strength increases with friction coefficient but levels off at friction coefficients above 0.4. Furthermore, the compressive strength is an increasing function of particle size span.