In this work we present a method to investigate the breakup of filler agglomerates in an internal mixer during a compounding operation. The method employs computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations along with discrete element method (DEM) simulations. CFD simulations are performed to compute the flow field inside a 2D section of a typical batch internal mixer with two tangential rotors. During the CFD simulation, we assume the filler agglomerates to behave as tracer particles, carried passively by the flow. The trajectory of the tracers, together with the experienced velocity gradients, are fed to a DEM code, built in the framework of Stokesian dynamics. The code computes the mechanical response of the agglomerates along the trajectory, from which it is finally possible to ascertain the occurrence of breakup. Simulations are performed to evaluate the robustness of the method on two different rotor speed ratio conditions and varying agglomerate strength.

中文翻译：

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CFD-DEM方法研究内部混合器中分形附聚物的破碎

在这项工作中，我们提出了一种在混合操作过程中研究内部混合机中填料团聚体破碎的方法。该方法采用计算流体动力学（CFD）仿真以及离散元素方法（DEM）仿真。执行CFD模拟以计算具有两个切向转子的典型批式内部混合器的2D截面内的流场。在CFD模拟过程中，我们假设填料团聚为示踪剂颗粒，被流动被动携带。示踪剂的轨迹与经历的速度梯度一起被馈送到在Stokesian动力学框架内构建的DEM代码。该代码计算沿轨迹的附聚物的机械响应，最终可以从中确定破裂的发生。