Effects of ball-to-powder diameter ratio and powder particle shape on EDEM simulation in a planetary ball mill

The effects of the ball-to-powder diameter ratio (BPDR) and the shape of the powder particles on EDEM simulation results and time in the planetary ball mill was investigated. BPDR was varied from 1 to 40/3 by changing the powder particle diameter from 8 to 0.6 ​mm. The size and shape of the powder particles do not give a significant change in both the ball motion pattern and simulation results when BPDR is over 20/3. It can be assumed that the kinetic energy of the ball has nothing to do with the size and shape of the powder particle. The simulation time and data size increase exponentially as BPDR increases. The effect of change of the powder particle shape on the calculated data size is not significant, but the more complicated its shape, the longer the simulation time, which is linearly related to the number of spheres composing a particle. [Display omitted] •Powder particles with BPDR over 20/3 do not give a significant change in both the ball motion pattern and simulation result.•Kinetic energy of the ball has nothing to do with the size and shape of the particle.•The simulation time and data size increase exponentially as BPDR increases.•Particle shape has an effect on the simulation time but has little effect on the data size.