Introduction: Marcel van Benten

Welcome to my introductory blog!

I am a Dutch mechanical engineer with a passion for granular flow mechanics, currently wrapping up my PhD at Delft University of Technology under Prof. Dingena Schott.

During my research, I performed many experiments to characterise the flow behaviour of sodium borohydride (NaBH₄), a solid hydrogen carrier for maritime vessels. In short, NaBH₄ flows freely initially but becomes cohesive or non-flowing after exposure to humid air or prolonged storage (time consolidation).

Naturally, I then used DEM to replicate and simulate the observed and quantified flow behaviour through various setups:

• Ledge test (also known as the shear box test)

• Rotating drum (GranuTools)

• Ring shear test (Schulze)

• Inclined surface test (also known as the tilting table test)

I mainly worked with HM + Rolling model C (in EDEM), and my latest focus is on capturing time-consolidation effects with a two-step calibration approach, using both HM and EEPA.

The basic idea is to calibrate the free-flowing behaviour with HM and then calibrate the remaining parameters to capture time-consolidation effects (e.g., increases in cohesion, tensile, or shear strength).

If you have any questions or want to reach out, feel free to send me an email at:

• m.c.vanbenten@tudelft.nl

I am looking forward to contributing to ON-DEM!