Sphericity, as one of the most important shape parameter for non-spherical objects, is extensively applied in evaluating the porosity or packing density of particles. In this paper, the sphericities of common non- spherical objects are deduced and investigated. Maximum sphericities and optimum shapes of these objects are presented as well. A decreasing order of sphericity from sphere (1.0) to regular tetrahedron (0.671) for objects with constant sphericity is given. Similar trends are found in most sphericity-aspect ratio relationships, which exhibit single peak and the sphericity increases with the growth of aspect ratio before the peak point and decreases afterward. The peak loci of aspect ratio are all around 1.0 which makes the shape approaching to a sphere. The information in the paper could be useful as literature for general application.
Teng Li Shuixiang Li Jian Zhao Peng Lu Lingyi Meng
Random packings of binary mixtures of spheres and spherocylinders with the same volume and the same diameter were simulated by a sphere assembly model and relaxation algorithm. Simulation results show that, independently of the component volume fraction, the mixture packing density increases and then decreases with the growth of the aspect ratio of spherocylinders, and the packing density reaches its maximum at the aspect ratio of 0.35. With the same volume particles, results show that the dependence of the mixture packing density on the volume fraction of spherocylinders is approximately linear. With the same diameter particles, the relationship between the mixture packing density and component volume fraction is also roughly linear for short spherocylinders, but when the aspect ratio of spherocylinders is greater than 1.6, the curves turn convex which means the packing of the mixture can be denser than either the sphere or spherocylinder packing alone. To validate the sphere assembly model and relaxation algorithm, binary mixtures of spheres and random packings of spherocylinders were also simulated. Simulation results show the packing densities of sphere mixtures agree with previous prediction models and the results of spherocylinders correspond with the simulation results in literature.
LU Peng, LI ShuiXiang , ZHAO Jian & MENG LingYi State Key Laboratory for Turbulence and Complex Systems, Department of Mechanics & Aerospace Engineering, College of Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Numerical simulation results show that the upper bound order of random packing densities of basic 3D objects is cube (0.78) > ellipsoid (0.74) > cylinder (0.72) > spherocylinder (0.69) > tetrahedron (0.68) > cone (0.67) > sphere (0.64), while the upper bound order of ordered packing densities of basic 3D objects is cube (1.0) > cylinder and spherocylinder (0.9069) > cone (0.7854) > tetrahedron (0.7820) > ellipsoid (0.7707) > sphere (0.7405); these two orders are significantly different. The random packing densities of ellipsoid, cylinder, spherocylinder, tetrahedron and cone are closely related to their shapes. The optimal aspect ratios of these objects which give the highest packing densities are ellipsoid (axes ratio = 0.8:1:1.25), cylinder (height/diameter = 0.9), spherocylinder (height of cylinder part/diameter = 0.35), tetrahedron (regular tetrahedron) and cone (height/bottom diameter = 0.8).
