Measuring and Predicting the Angle of Repose of Granular Matter from Clump and Potential Particles DEM Approaches

Abstract The angle of repose (AoR) is a widely employed measurement for granular materials that is currently used by various industries to characterise the behaviour of powders, soils and grains. This study proposes a new measurement technique for the AoR, and applies it on numerical models of two recently developed devices to measure the AoR by means of Discrete Element Simulations, for plane-strain and axisymmetric repose states. 3D-printed rounded tetrahedral particles are simulated using two numerical modelling strategies, namely concave multi-spheres (clumps) and convex potential particles, to explore the effect of particle shape on the AoR, and comparisons are drawn against experimental evidence. Then, a campaign of drained triaxial compression tests is carried out for a wide range of confining pressures to investigate if any correlations exist between the AoR and constitutive (peak and critical-state) friction angles.