Simon Larsson

Research project

My research is about modelling, simulation and characterisation of granular materials at various loading conditions.

Granular materials are common in industry, where the dynamics of granular material flow is of relevance in many processes. Despite being common, the complex behaviour of granular materials is still poorly understood and a unifying theory for the mechanical behaviour does not exist. The wide use of granular materials means that there exist economic incentives for a more efficient use and handling of them. Tools for numerical simulation of granular material flow that can be applied to various industrial processes will give the opportunity to increase their efficiency. To develop such tools, knowledge about the characteristics of granular material flow is needed. This in turn requires finding suitable methods for accurate characterisation of granular material flow.

The research project involves modelling and simulation of granular material flow in a number of industrial applications such as metal powder die filling and the filling, transportation and discharge of granular materials in train wagons. My work is also about the development of experimental methodologies for characterisation of granular materials under different loading conditions. Accurate measurements of the behaviour of granular materials are used to support the development of numerical methods and provides the opportunity to validate numerical simulations.

My research is part of the EU project HERMES. More information can be fonud on the project web-page: http://www.hermes-h2020.eu/