Aiming at the problems of insufficient substrate mixing in the process of soilless culture substrate production and inaccurate simulation results due to too large a model and too many particles when using the discrete element method, we established a simulation model of fertilizer and soil particles by setting up a similar theoretical mixing model and utilizing the Hertz-Mindlin (no slip) contact model, and then three variable factors which affected the mixing uniformity and efficiency of the mixer, such as the feeding mode, the blade spacing of the stirred mixer and the stirrer rotational speed, were simulated and analyzed based on discrete element analysis. The results showed that: the similar theoretical mixing model can be used for the scaling of the simulation model to achieve the effect of reducing the amount of calculation and improving the accuracy of the simulation; in the case of using the flat feeding mode, the mixing effect was better because the upper particles would accelerate the mixing of the particles under the action of gravity; the better spacing between the blades in the model was 20 mm with similarity model; the mixing effect and the economy were the best when the blade rotational speed was at 50 r/min; the mixing efficiency and effect were greatly improved compared with manual mixing, and the blind zones can be avoided. The simulation results can provide theoretical reference for the design and optimization of stirred mixer.
应用容器育苗时,因苗随根际土团(有时和容器一起)栽种,起苗和栽种过程中可使根系少受损伤,成活率高、发棵快、生长旺盛,对于不耐移栽的作物或树木尤为适用。容器所盛培养土等基质中含有丰富的营养物质,加之容器育苗常在塑料大棚、温室等保护设施中进行,故可使苗的生长发育获得较佳的营养和环境条件。育苗基质作为林业无土栽培的基础,品质与产业化生产能力可充分反映无土栽培的水平[1]。基质的品质会受到基质混合均匀度的影响,如何提升基质的混合均匀度对于改善基质的品质起着至关重要的作用。人工混合不仅工作繁重,而且混合不均,因此自动化搅拌混合器逐渐取代了传统的人工混合方式[2]。固体颗粒的流动主要由颗粒间复杂的接触力决定,很难探求出影响混合器搅拌效率和混合均匀性的因素[3]。目前,有关基质搅拌混合器工作部件的设计大都依靠经验或试验方法,既费时费力又得不到理想的设计效果[4]。离散元法(discrete element method,DEM)可以准确地描述颗粒流动在颗粒和系统尺度上的力学行为,成为研究颗粒流动可靠且有力的工具[5]。叶轮叶片机械搅拌的圆柱形混合器,是各种基质颗粒混合处理中常见的混合器[6]。Zhou等[7-8]和Stewart[9]等使用离散元法对带有2个平叶片的圆柱形混合器进行了模拟,发现颗粒的摩擦特性对速度分布和混合动力学有影响。Remy等[10]对由四叶片叶轮搅拌的圆柱形容器中的无黏性玻璃珠进行DEM模拟,研究了2种叶片结构以及颗粒摩擦对颗粒流行为的影响,研究结果表明,钝叶片变桨方向产生了一个强大的三维回流区,从而促进了垂直和径向混合。Havlica等[11]利用离散元法对叶片速度的影响进行了进一步研究。Boon等[6]采用离散元法研究了叶片数量对颗粒流动和混合动力学的影响,结果发现2叶和3叶混合器颗粒速度和颗粒扩散率高于1叶和4叶混合器,此外,还通过改变混合器直径与颗粒直径比来评估放大效果,结果发现增大混合器直径与颗粒直径之比对流动和混合行为几乎没有影响。Bao等[3]采用离散元法研究了叶片直径、倾角和倾斜叶片的圆柱形混合器中颗粒流动和混合的影响,结果表明3叶片混合器的混合性能和效率优于2叶片和4叶片混合器。尽管以往的研究在颗粒仿真方面取得了重要进展,但其采用的建模方式往往面临计算量过大的问题。这不仅限制了模型的复杂度和精度,还可能导致仿真结果的不准确。宋伟刚等[12]针对DEM计算方法存在所需计算时间过长,且容易因数值误差累积而影响结果的可靠性的问题,通过比较了散状物料转载计算方法,给出了采用DEM方法的建模与模型检验的基本步骤。本研究提出一种基于相似理论的仿真方法,旨在通过优化建模过程,显著降低计算量,同时提高仿真结果的准确性和可靠性。采用赫兹-明德林(无滑移)模型(Hertz-Mindlin(no slip))建立肥料与土壤颗粒仿真模型,并在单层叶轮上增添竖直叶片。利用控制变量法分别改变搅拌式混合器叶片间距、转速和放料方式,探求影响搅拌式混合器颗粒混合效率的因素,为搅拌式混合器的设计与优化提供理论参考。
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