Cellular automaton-based simulation of bulk stacking and recovery.

Abstract

Stockpiling is a key issue in bulk material handling. A small-scale, quasi-two-dimensional physical model was used to investigate size segregation during stacking and gravitational reclaim of stockpiles and to compare experimental results to those ones generated by a simplified mathematical model. This mathematical model is based on cellular automata and was used to simulate size segregation in conical stockpiles of non-cohesive granular material and gravity flow during its reclaim, through a ground level discharge opening. The present model has taken into account only three particle size class. Banded layers of fine, medium-sized, and coarse particles appear during the pile growth. These stratification patterns have been observed during stockpile formation both in the physical model and in the cellular automaton-based model. Also, experiments in both physical and cellular automaton-based model were carried out to quantify the particle size time evolution of granular material leaving the discharge opening during reclaim. Furthermore, the cellular

automaton-based model has successfully simulated segregation phenomena during grav- itational discharging, as well as the topological features of segregation during stockpiling

and reclaim.