Zhang, C., Maramizonouz, S., Yang, C. et al. (3 more authors) (2025) Electro-mechanical insights into the mixing of conductive and non-conductive sands at an interface. Powder Technology, 458. 120991. ISSN 0032-5910
Abstract
This paper investigates the electrical behaviour of an electrically conductive sand particle when mixed with non-conductive silica sand, commonly used in the railway industry. Laboratory tests and numerical simulations are conducted to assess the effect of mixing on the electrical conduction properties at the metal-to-metal interface under mechanical loading. Results from compression tests demonstrate that mixing with even 5 % mass of conductive particles can significantly reduce electrical resistance at the interface; however, the decrease in electrical resistance gradually slows down when the mixing ratio of conductive particles exceeds 10 %. Discrete element modelling of high pressure torsion tests – enhanced with a newly proposed electro-mechanical contact model – reveal that fine conductive particles are more effective than coarse particles in reducing interfacial electrical resistance at equal mixing ratios. A heatmap is proposed to estimate the percentage of conductive particles required to bring the resistance of the interface below the critical threshold of 10 Ω for track circuit, which links the resistivity of various conductive particles with their required mixing ratio.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2025 The Authors. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ). |
Keywords: | Discrete element method; Electro-mechanical coupling; Particles; Sands |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 29 May 2025 10:28 |
Last Modified: | 29 May 2025 10:28 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier BV |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.powtec.2025.120991 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:227213 |