Development of design method for wet stirred ball milling by simulation using DEM

• DEM simulation simultaneously estimates three design factors. • A milling performance indicator is defined. • Tendency of estimated milling performance indicators agreed with experiments. • Estimated optimal milling condition estimated agreed with the experiments. • Developed method could design milling conditions for wet stirred ball milling. A design method for wet stirred ball milling by the simulation using the Discrete Element Method (DEM) was developed. The method optimized milling conditions for wet stirred ball milling by using the simulation to search for the optimal milling condition that maximizes a milling performance indicator. The milling performance indicator was defined in such a manner that the value of the indicator was maximized when more target particles with the desired particle diameter were produced in less milling time and with lower power consumption and less contamination. Furthermore, it was confirmed that the optimal milling condition estimated by the simulation agreed with the experiments. Therefore, it was suggested that the developed method has the potential to design the milling conditions of the wet stirred ball milling.