Estimation of energy dissipation during multiparticle contacts in 1D simulations of a granular material

In this paper we investigate numerically, in one dimension, the dynamics of a granular material taking into account particle collisions. Multiparticle contacts occur when a particle contacts with neighbouring particles in such a way that those contacts have a direct influence on each other. Multiparticle contacts are responsible for the transfer and dissipation of energy in granulr materials. We investigeted two discrete deterministic approaches - molecular dynamics and event driven methods - in order to estimate the energy dissipation in multiparticle contacts. The molecular dynamics method leads to low energy dissipation, whereas the event driven method may lead to high energy dissipation. The paper analyses the extent to which the repulsive force, used in the molecular dynamics technique, affects the numerical values of the energy dissipation. We propose the expression describing the force formulated under fractional calculus. We then illustrate and discuss how to controlthe energy dissipation between the contacting surfaces.