Abstract:
Investigating the interactions of granular fertilizers with various types of equipment is an
essential part of agricultural research. A numerical technique simulating the mechanical behavior
of granular assemblies has the advantage of data trackings, such as the trajectories, velocities,
and transient forces of the particles at any stage of the test. The interaction parameters were calibrated
to simulate responses of granular fertilizers in EDEM, a discrete element method (DEM) software.
Without a proper calibration of the interaction parameters between the granular fertilizers and various
materials, the simulations may not represent the real behavior of the granular fertilizers. Therefore,
in this study, a strategy is presented to identify and select a set of DEM input parameters of granular
fertilizers using the central composite design (CCD) to establish the nonlinear relationship between
the dynamic macroscopic granular fertilizer properties and the DEM parameters. The determined
interaction properties can be used to simulate granular fertilizers in EDEM.
