Optimisation of a vibro-packing process through simulation and experiment

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Vibro-packing is a technique used in industry for filling moulds withgranular particles to a high degree of packing fraction. The entiremould apparatus is vibrated with precise acceleration properties,causing the particles to permeate and fill the void spaces as efficientlyas possible. The mould can then be back-filled with a suitable binder(e.g. epoxy resins) to produce a high quality, homogeneous compositematerial with desirable mechanical properties in a (close to) near netshape.The nature of the applied vibration and the design of the mould toolitself cause interesting phenomena, such as node formation aroundfixtures and out-of-axis motion, which are not simple to predictwithout extensive testing and simulation. This project involves a jointexperimental and modelling study of these phenomena, with the intentof optimising the vibro-packing process to increase manufacturingthroughput and tightly control the resulting material properties.The project seeks to use advanced experimental techniques (such asPositron Emission Particle Tracking, PEPT) to characterize the systemand provide important validation data. With PEPT, individual particlescan be tracked as they move through the mould, which combined withmachine learning and AI techniques, will allow us to develop anunderstanding of how the particles' properties affect their packingbehaviour. Cutting edge modelling and simulation techniques (discreteelement method, DEM, coupled with computational fluid dynamics,CFD) will be used to improve our understanding of how theseproperties - and those of the mould fixture and resin binder - can beused to produce better materials faster and more reliably.