Empaquetamiento denso de partículas de forma general usando técnicas analíticas y de minimización

The Discrete Element Method (DEM) is a numerical method that has achieved general acceptance as an alternative tool to model discontinuous media, with a wide range of practical applications. Given that spheres are not always a suitable shape for DEM simulations, other particle shapes need to be used. However, for shapes different from spheres, there are not many advancing front packing algorithms, which are, in many cases, the best algorithms that allow obtaining an appropriate initial set of particles for a DEM simulation. This lack of advancing front packing algorithms for shapes different from spheres is mostly due to the difficulty of solving the problem of placing a mobile particle in contact with other two (in 2D) or three (in 3D) particles. In this paper, new methods for solving the problem of the particle in contact are proposed. First, the problem of the particle in contact is formally defined. In the case of the wrappers solution method, it is applied to geometrical shapes to which has not been applied before. In the case of the minimization method, which is an original creation of the authors, it is shown to be a promising alternative for spherocylinders.