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AIXC-MAT-CS-004

Material motion and load in a rotary drum

Demonstration on generic geometry: industrial rotary drum with material motion and load on lifters with DEM. (1/3)Demonstration on generic geometry: industrial rotary drum with material motion and load on lifters with DEM. (2/3)Demonstration on generic geometry: industrial rotary drum with material motion and load on lifters with DEM. (3/3)
Demonstration on generic geometry: industrial rotary drum with material motion and load on lifters with DEM.
Question
How does the material move inside a rotary drum and what load does it leave on lifters, paddles and shell?
Method
DEM with implementación de referencia DEM and a calibrated material [1]; finite elements for the lifter and end-plate welds to EN 1993-1-9 and IIW; wear model for the shell.
Verify
+7 % / −2 % against the slump test of Li et al. (2021) in slump and spread.
Result
Generic 2.0 m rotary dryer at 5 rpm with straight lifters: material motion and lifter load.
Limitations
Today each engine is checked on its own; feeding the DEM load directly into the fatigue calculation is under development.

Standards we work with

  • EN 1993-1-9 · IIWWe calculate to: fatigue of lifter and end-plate welds
  • Reg. (EU) 2023/1230Strength and fatigue analysis is part of the technical file the manufacturer must hold (applicable from 20 January 2027)
  • How does the DEM load differ from client specifications?

    Client specifications (tonnes per hour, temperature, particle size) are process conditions, not structural loads. DEM converts those conditions into the actual force distribution on each lifter and each zone of the shell.

  • Our drums are built with decades of experience.

    Experience provides a starting thickness, not the actual fatigue life. When the drum diameter increases or material density changes, empirical extrapolation is not valid.

  • Does the Machinery Regulation require us to calculate the drum?

    Strength and fatigue analysis is part of the technical file the manufacturer must hold under Regulation (EU) 2023/1230, applicable from 20 January 2027.

  • Can you calculate drums with non-standard lifter geometries?

    Yes. DEM works on the real geometry of your drum, with the lifter shape and angle you use. DXF or STEP drawings of the drum are enough to start.

Propose a case

Describe your materials question in an email: the load of a bulk material, the fatigue of a weld, the wear of a plate or a clay blend. We will tell you whether it can become a case study and with which data.

Write to info@aixcresearch.com