A regular tetrahedron is the simplest three-dimensional structure and has the largest non-sphericity. Mixing of tetrahedral particles in a thin drum mixer was studied by the soft-sphere-imbedded pseudo-hard particle model and compared with that of spherical particles. The two particle types were simulated with different rotation speeds and drum filling levels. The Lacey mixing index and Shannon information entropy were used to explore the effects of sphericity on the mixing and motion of particles. Moreover, the probability density functions and mean values and variances of motion velocities, including translational and rotational, were computed to quantify the differences between the motion features of tetrahedra and spheres. We found that the flow regime depended on the particle shape in addition to the rotation speed and filling level of the drum. The mixing of tetrahedral particles was better than that of spherical particles in the rolling and cascading regimes at a high filling level, whereas it may be poorer when the filling level was low. The Shannon information entropy is better than the Lacey mixing index to evaluate mixing because it can reflect the real change of flow regime from the cataracting to the centrifugal regime, whereas the mixing index cannot.

正四面体是最简单的三维结构，具有最大的非球形性。通过嵌入软球的拟硬颗粒模型研究了四面体颗粒在薄桶混合器中的混合，并与球形颗粒进行了比较。用不同的转速和转鼓填充水平模拟了两种颗粒类型。用莱西混合指数和香农信息熵来探索球形度对粒子混合和运动的影响。此外，计算了概率密度函数以及运动速度（包括平移和旋转）的平均值和方差，以量化四面体和球体的运动特征之间的差异。我们发现，流动方式除了取决于转鼓的转速和填充水平外，还取决于颗粒的形状。在高填充水平下，四面体颗粒在滚动和级联状态下的混合效果要好于球形颗粒，而在低填充水平下，四面体颗粒的混合效果会较差。Shannon信息熵比Lacey混合指数更好地评估混合，因为它可以反映从白内障到离心状态的流动状态的真实变化，而混合指数则不能。