This course is an advanced study of granular materials, focusing on the fundamental concepts, behaviour, and applications of powders and granulated substances in various industrial and natural contexts. The curriculum delves into the statics and dynamics of granular systems, flow and rheology, segregation, jamming, and measurement techniques. Students will also explore modelling approaches, the role of granular materials in the circular economy, and their use in renewable energy systems. By the end of the course, participants will have gained a deep understanding of granular materials, preparing them for cutting-edge research and applications in diverse fields such as geotechnical engineering, pharmaceuticals, food processing, and renewable energy. 1. Definition of powders and granular materials: an overview of powders and granular materials, particle size distribution, and packing of particles. 2. Statics and dynamics of granular materials: forces on particles in a granular system, stress, and strain in granular materials, contact mechanics of particles. 3. Flow and rheology of granular materials: flow regimes of granular materials, the flow of granular materials in silos and hoppers, and rheology of granular materials. 4. Segregation in granular materials: causes of segregation, segregation mechanisms, models for predicting segregation. 5. Jamming in granular materials: definition of jamming, jamming transition in granular materials, jamming and unjamming processes. 6. Measurement techniques for granular materials: particle imaging techniques, particle tracking techniques, and bulk measurement techniques. 7. Modelling approaches for granular materials: discrete element method, continuum models, microscopic models. 8. Applications of granular materials in industry: handling and processing of powders, granular materials in geotechnical engineering, granular materials in pharmaceuticals, and food processing. 9. Applications of granular materials in natural phenomena: granular materials in landslides, sediment transport in rivers and coastal environments, granular materials in avalanches and sand dunes. 10. Principles of circular economy: granular materials and circular economy, case studies. 11. Granular materials in renewable energy: use of granular materials in solar and wind energy systems, optimization of granular materials in renewable energy systems, case studies of granular materials in renewable energy systems. Literature: 1. B. Andreotti, Y. Forterre, O. Pouliquen, Granular Media: Between Fluid and Solid, Cambridge University Press, (2013). 2. H. Makino, K. Higashitani, S. Matsusaka, Powder Technology Handbook, CRC Press, (2019). 3. E. Guyon, J.-Y. Delenne, F. Radjai, Built on Sand, MIT Press, (2022). 4. A. Hassanpour, C. Hare, M. Pasha, Powder Flow Theory, Characterisation and Application, RSC Publishing, (2019). 5. A. J. Hickey, S. Giovagnoli, Pharmaceutical Powder and Particles, Springer International Publishing, (2018). 6. G. Mortara, P. M. Mariano, P. Giovine, Views on Microstructures in Granular Materials, Springer, (2020).
|