Dear clients,
Employees from the Itasca offices and their representatives are scheduled to present, attend, or exhibit at numerous conferences in the upcoming quarter. To ensure you the best reception and to present jointly their expertises and products, we will be hosting you on our booths or over a drink. Please consider attending the confenreces listed below or visiting us at one of them. We're always looking for good people and challenging projects.
The European Itasca team
Consulting
Mechanical testing of a model baked anode material with PFC A baked anode is a complex material, that results from the mixing and baking of different petrol coke grains, with different size distributions, with a pitch. A preliminary study (ICSAS16-CST-MFG-35143-01) developed a PFC2D model accounting for the microstructure of a baked anode, using the Bonded Particle Model (BPM). The new goals are to: 1) improve the geometrical description of the baked anode material, and 2) setup procedures simplifying the application of a mechanical load on the model material, and comparing its mechanical response with experimental data.
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Itasca Consultants S.A.S. had to improve the previously developed PFC2D environment by integrating more realistic size distributions of the grains, pore content, and binder distribution, as well as “open porosity”. Implement shape factor measurements (aspect ratio, sphericity, roundness, convexity, compactness) on the reconstructed particles and compare results with real structure. Calibrate intact BPM matrix then setup an axial loading test of a disk-shaped specimen with a pre-engineered notch (see figure). Characterize the repeatability of the measurements and the influence of specimen size. Study the influence of a notch, of the Young modulus, and of the binder strength. |
Post-peak failure patterns |
A parameterized environment is available, that simulates the mechanical loading of a disk-shaped specimen with a preengineered notch. The geometrical description of the material now includes ”real” grain size distributions, new volume fractions for grains and pores, and “open porosity”. Use of this model confirms that the elastic slope, crack pattern and peak force are highly dependant on the geometrical repartition and on the distribution of voids and pores, while the specimen size has a strong influence on the linear slope and on the peak force. A Constitutive Model describing the Material Behavior of Salt Dumps ITASCA Consultants GmbH has developed a constitutive model describing the stress-strain and creep behavior of salt dumps in FLAC3D and FLAC. Three different processes dominate the real material behavior. The first process is compaction and decreasing pore space due to the weight of the crushed salt. The second process is creep behavior because the principal material of the dump is residual salt. With higher compaction, strength parameter increases. This means that as third process shear- and tension-failure may occur. The ITASCAsaltdump model was developed based on CWIPP and Strain-Hardening/Softening Model. The basic functionality was investigated by simulation of creep and compaction-tests. The figure shows the compaction ratio of a salt dump after 8 years and third filling. The compaction ratio increases to one with the age of the filling and the extent of the overburden. Also this ratio is affected by local failure.
Compaction ratio after 8 years |
