TRANSFER CHUTES

Dynamic scale modelling (DSM)

of transfer chutes
By Peter Donecker, Bulk Solids Modelling

Abstract
Dynamic scale modelling (DSM) of transfer chutes began as a
technique in the early 1990s and has been in use continuously
since that time. It is based on dimensional analysis and uses the
Froude number as the basis of scaling.
The dimensional analysis approach requires that the ratio
of the major forces in the system be kept constant. In the case
of transfer chutes, which operate in the dense granular flow regime, this means the ratio of the inertial forces to the gravitational forces.
The theoretical basis of the technique is applicable to cohesionless materials. Extension into the modelling of cohesive
materials requires empirical methods to be adopted, since cohesive and adhesive properties of ores do not scale with the Froude
number when the size range of an ore is scaled down.
Validation of the technique was conducted during the initial
development and has been ongoing. A wide variety of parameters can be used to provide the basis for validation. Some examples of these are discussed.

By application of the Buckingham Pi theory to this set of variables, the following groups can be delineated.

Using the relationship that the volume throughput,

we can write this last group as the Capacity number:

Introduction
Conveyor belts have been in use for over a century and conveyor
transfer chutes have therefore been in use for the same amount
of time. Basic design concepts for chutes have been developed
and are included as small sections in texts that have been published on conveyor design, going back to the 1920s. Some theoretical work has been published since the late 1960s to assist design, but this has had limited application and has involved a two
dimensional approach and approximation.
The development of the hood and spoon chutes in the coal
industry has represented a significant step forward in chute design, but these chutes are of limited application. Many other generic chute types have evolved to fill the various niches, but it is
true to say that transfer chute design is often poorly conceived
and executed.
Prior to the development of DSM, it was a common practice
of designers to make models of chutes from perspex or cardboard and pour material such as vermiculite through them
to gain some understanding of how the ore might behave in
three dimensional flows. DSM is a formalisation of this ad-hoc
approach. It involves the construction of a scale model of the
chute, normally in transparent acrylic and the continuous circulation of material through the chute. Chute performance
can be visualised using this technique, and design modifications can be explored quickly and cheaply before a final design is selected.

Theoretical background
The fundamental variables involved in the flow of granular material through a transfer chute are listed below.
Mass Flow
m
Coefficent of restitution
e
Bulk density

Particle shape factor
fs
Belt velocity
V
Linear scale factor
L
Gravitational acceleration g
Particle diameter
d
Angle of repose
82

Australian Bulk Handling Review: September/October 2011

The Capacity number is merely an expression of the fact that

the volumetric capacity of the chute varies with the velocity and
the cross sectional area.
Of importance here is to note that none of the groups contains a density term. So the flow is independent of density. This
is an important point and one which people often find difficult
to grasp intuitively.
The Froude number, which appears throughout the literature on granular flow, expresses the ratio of inertial to gravitational forces.
The angle of repose, which is an expression of inter-particle
friction, can be simply maintained through the scaling process,
as can the particle shape factor. The coefficient of restitution of
real materials varies over a small range and, as will be shown, is
of negligible influence unless it is at the extreme of the range.

Flow regimes
When modelling granular flow by any means, it is important to
recognize that there are different flow regimes occurring within
the granular material. There has been much discussion on this
topic in the literature, with many theoretical models being put
forward, but the two models that dominate the discussion are
the Bagnold model and the Coulomb model. These are discussed
in turn here in relation to chute flow and the implications for
Froude number scaling.

The work of Bagnold (1954)

Bagnold, a man who developed his interest in sand by way of his
adventures in the deserts of Northern Africa in a model T Ford
in the 1930s, was one of the first people to investigate the flow
of dry granular materials. Using an annular shear cell and wax
spheres suspended in a fluid so as to maintain neutral buoyancy,
he defined a new flow regime, known as the inertial regime, and

TRANSFER CHUTES

then went on to develop the mathematics to describe that flow.

He applied this mathematics to the flow of sand in an inclined
chute, amongst other things.
The recognition of the inertial, or grain inertial flow regime,
is of prime importance to the understanding of flow in transfer chutes. It occurs at higher shear rates and velocities than the
quasi-static regime which is used in soil science and in hopper
flow theory and the effective friction varies with the square of
the velocity or shear rate, while in the quasi-static regime the
coefficient of friction is constant.
In the inertial regime, the particles are separated from each
other and undergo energy interchange by collision. We get this
type of flow when granular material moves over the surface of
an existing deposit or a surface that has been intentionally made
rough, such as by the addition of wear bars.
Bagnolds theoretical analysis led him to predict the flow velocity in an inclined chute to be given by the expression:

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This gave him results that were of the order of 50% too high,
which was not unexpected, but they did show the correct trend.
He records that, in his experiments, there remained a fixed
bed of constant depth in the chute after all runs. Though unfortunately he does not record this thickness, his flow height is
measured above this fixed bed, which provided a rough surface.
So his results are all comparable with other tests conducted on
chutes with rough surfaces.
If we look carefully at Bagnolds expression, for the case of
linear scaling, we can say that Dy and we can re-arrange the
terms to come to the result:

So we find that, coming from a purely theoretical approach,

which is then compared with experiment, the flow is described
by the condition of constant Froude number.
There have been many subsequent tests carried out on flow
down inclined chutes of varying surface roughness and inclination, and examination of the results of these investigations always
reveals the underlying Froude number relationship. The presence
of granular jumps, analogous to hydraulic jumps, has been shown
by Savage (1979) to be dependent on the Froude number also.
Brennen & Sabersky (1989) explored flows in smooth inclined chutes using a continuously recirculated system of glass
beads. They showed that the effective friction was a function
of the Froude number. At low values of the Froude number, corresponding to the quasi-static regime, the effective friction was
close to constant, while at a critical value of the square form of
the Froude number, corresponding to the transition to the dense
inertial flow regime, the effective friction rose vertically. Thus
the effective friction serves to hold the system to a constant
Froude number. These results for two different particle sizes are
shown in figure 1.

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Coulomb friction
The other model of flow in a chute is the classic friction approach of Coulomb. The Coulomb friction model forms the
basis of the well known analysis of Roberts (2001), which is
used to describe the flow in hood and spoon style chutes, so
commonly used in the coal industry. A diagram showing the
force balance in the spoon section of such a chute is shown
in figure 2.
It can be seen from the diagram that most of the slip is happening at the chute interface and this fits with the concept of

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TRANSFER CHUTES

Figure 1: Variation in effective friction in inclined chute flow with the square form of the Froude Number,
after Brennen & Sabersky (1989).

Coulomb friction. Roberts therefore defines an equivalent friction

that he relates to the chute geometry. By assuming that
this friction is constant over the spoon section of the chute, he
derives the following expression for the velocity in the chute, as
a function of the angle , which it can be seen from inspection,
is equal to the position around the curved element, starting from
where it is vertical.

We can declare a local value of v in realtion to .

Taking the square of both sides and re-arranging, we get:

We can clearly see that the LHS represents the Froude number, and that this is a constant for any given position around
the curve, independent of the scale. So, Froude number scaling
works nicely for curved chutes.

Trajectories
Another form of motion in chutes that is not so strongly correlated with friction is the trajectory from the head pulley. There
are numerous versions of this calculation, but we will take as an
example that of Booth (1934).
He expresses the flow condition as a function of the departure angle from the head pulley, after considering friction. He
arrived at the expression below:

From this, we can clearly see that the LHS of the equation
is the Froude number, in this case related to the variable , the
departure angle. Since the RHS of the equation does not contain
any quantities that depend on the size of the system, the Froude
number serves as a scaling criterion for geometrically similar systems involving trajectories.
Similar Froude number relationships for cohesionless granu84

Australian Bulk Handling Review: September/October 2011

Figure 2: Forces on element of material moving

in curved chute, Roberts (2001).

lar flows can be found in many other geometries, such as flow

from hoppers, flows in rotating drums, flows in high speed
shear cells etc.

The effect of material parameters

If we look at the above expressions for the motion of granular
material, we do not see any terms involving such parameters
as density, coefficient of restitution, rolling friction, shape factor, or particle to particle friction coefficient. The closest we
come is the lumped equivalent friction value in Roberts equation, which is in itself an estimate. How then, we might ask,
can any of this work have any meaning? The answer perhaps
lies in the fact that these parameters are of relatively minor
importance in the types of flow we are seeing. Furthermore,
the range of these variables for real particles is small.
In the case of DEM modelling these values represent parameters that can be adjusted to make the model fit some desired outcome such as replicating a scale model of a particular flow regime, but any cursory perusal of the literature will
reveal that a wide range of these values is applied for similar
materials and that the actual value does not necessarily correspond with a real physical measurement. Furthermore, the
real world values of these parameters do not change as the
flow regime changes, as DEM requires.
In a comprehensive review of laboratory tests and computer simulations of flow in inclined chutes, the Groupement De
Recherche Milieux Diviss (G. D. R. Midi) (2004) investigated
the influence of the coefficient of restitution and the interparticle friction on the velocity profiles in flows in inclined
chutes in the dense flow regime and came to the interesting
conclusion that the flows did not depend on the coefficient of
restitution for values of e <0.8. This covers the range of interest for transfer chutes. In the same study, they found that the
dependence on the friction coefficient
was also weak, for
real world values.
The author has conducted DEM simulations of funnel
flows, where the above parameters were varied by a factor
of two or three and there was no discernable difference in
the outcome.
Pouliquen (1999), in studying the flow of granular material down inclined chutes, determined a scaling rule that he
expressed as:

TRANSFER CHUTES

Handling Powders and Granules

Where
is the thickness of the material that is left behind when a granular material is allowed to flow down a rough
plane at any given angle of inclination. His single parameter
carries all the variables associated with the particles and
is a simple measurement to conduct, providing that the particle size range is not too great. His expression is strikingly
similar to Bagnolds equation and is yet another example of
Froude number scaling.
These results confirm the practical results on dynamic
scale chute modelling that began 20 years ago. They explain
why it is possible to use simple synthetic materials to model
chute behaviour. These materials need only be selected on the
basis of their particle size and shape and angle of repose, disregarding other parameters. There is no need or justification
in using scaled samples of the actual ore. We are, after all, using perspex chutes.

Cohesive flow
The DSM technique was developed for cohesionless granular
solids. Extension of the technique to cohesive ores would require that the cohesive and adhesive forces in the circulating
material be kept in a constant ratio with the inertial forces. It
is not possible to simply crush up a sample of ore, maintaining
constant moisture content and expect cohesion and adhesion
to scale.
These forces will tend to be grossly overstated and very
misleading results can be obtained by such an approach. Instead, it has been found by experience that it is possible to
formulate mixtures that simulate the behaviour of cohesive
ores very effectively, displaying such behaviour as avalanching flow, cohesive build-up and slow adhesive accumulation
of fines.
By varying the proportions of the components in the mix, it
is possible to simulate a range of properties from free-flowing
to highly cohesive. Once the model is constructed and mounted, it can be challenged with a range of materials very quickly.
It is rare for testing to take more than a day. By this means,
chute behaviour under a wide range of conditions, such as is
frequently found in the real world, can be quickly evaluated.
The complexity of cohesive granular materials means that
even the behaviour under quasi-static conditions is not well
defined in a mathematical sense. The behaviour under inertial
flow conditions is even less well defined (Mitarai & Nori, 2006).
The importance of inertial effects can be appreciated by
anyone who has observed the simple fact that a sticky ore containing large particles is easier to handle than one w hich is
comprised entirely of fines. Translation of results from tests
conducted in the quasi-static regime into the dynamic domain
is clearly not a viable approach in this case.

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Validation
An important consideration in any modelling technique is to be
able to validate the test model results against the full scale chute
results. There exist a large number of parameters that can be
used for verification and some of these are listed in table 1.

Validation example 1
The first dynamic scale model tested was an iron ore chute at
Hamersley Iron in 1992. A view of this chute, looking from the
discharge end of the v-feeder is shown in figure 4.
In the case of this chute, information about the perforBleed
307
110configuramance in two configurations was
known.
Thexfirst
tion incorporated a v-feeder thatTrimmed
was 100mm
wider
than the
297
x 100.5
second configuration. It was known
that
this
change
Image 280 x 88.5in width
led to a complete alteration of the flow pattern from choked
flow in the first case, to free flow in the second case at a flow
rate of 7200tph.

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TRANSFER CHUTES

Table 1 - Parameters that can be used for model validation.

Wear scratches

Choked flow condition

Ore trajectory

Adhesive build-up

Cohesive build-up

Segregation effects

Surcharge angle

Loading bias

Wear pattern

Dust effects

Free surface shape

Wash line

Figure 4: Iron ore chute, 1992.

the cracked wheat was slightly more angular than the washed
bauxite. So, in this case, the overall flow patterns together with
the belt loading indicate the validity of the model.
Another factor not mentioned in table 1 was back-spill. Similar back-spill issues were shown to exist in the model and the full
scale chute, depending on the angle of the belt representing the
boom. These effects are difficult to quantify.

Validation example 3
Investigation by modelling, using cracked wheat as the ore,
showed the same transition from choked to free flow happening
at the same equivalent tonnage. By removal of the liner plates
in the v-feeder, it was possible to determine the flow streams
against the surface by overlaying the liners with transparent
film and marking the direction of the wear scratches on the
liner surfaces, which served as flow vectors.
The flow pattern in the full scale chute and the model chute
were shown to be identical. A third feature in both cases was
the existence of a fast flowing stream on the surface of the ore,
which was evidenced by accentuated localised wear in the full
scale chute and could be observed through the transparent
model chute. So, three separate parameters provided validation
between model and full scale.
It is noted here that the wear surfaces in this chute, when
examined by scanning electron microscope, did not show a
predominance of micro-cutting as one might expect, but instead had the appearance of being hammered by millions of
small blows, leading to a surface fatigue wear mechanism. This
is consistent with the concept of inertial energy transfer between the rocks and the liner surfaces.

In 2009, a large bifurcated chute handling primary crusher

product was modelled. This project involved two phases. The
first was modelling of the existing chute and the second was
the modelling of the proposed design revision.
In figure 6, the model of the existing chute is shown. This
image is taken from a video clip, so the clarity is less than
optimal, but it is enough to show that the two outgoing belts
are showing biased loading due to segregation of lump to one
side. The inset clarifies this segregation.
This is the same effect that was observed in the full scale
chute. Of interest in this case is that the chute was modelled elsewhere using a sample of crushed ore and the segregation issue
was not identified. In figure 7 the segregation is quite clear. That
material used in this case for the large lumps was dog biscuits!

Validation example 4

Validation example 2
In May, 1995, a chute handling washed bauxite for a stacker
was modelled, again using cracked wheat. The model is shown
in figure 5.
In this case, the model predicted that the ore would flow
down the cylindrical section of the chute with a bias to one
side, before stagnating in the inverted conical section and then
bifurcating as it loaded onto the outgoing belt. A flow bias from
to the far side of the belt was predicted.
When the full scale chute was commissioned, the effects
shown in the model were duplicated exactly, despite the fact that

Figure 5: Chute
handling washed
bauxite, modelled
using cracked
wheat, 1995.

86

Australian Bulk Handling Review: September/October 2011

Figure 6: Model of bifurcated chute, showing segregation on outgoing belts (2009).

In 2011, a chute handling copper ore was modelled using a

proprietary mixture of materials including attapulgite and
wood flour. The model chute is shown in figure 7.
The chute comprised an inclined rear wall covered in ledges
to prevent wear by retaining a coating of ore. The belt was a
slow belt case, the most difficult of trajectories to predict.
This was a chute designed to replace an existing chute, so
there was information from the existing chute regarding the
trajectory as well as the considerable cohesive and adhesive
build-up that was occurring. Stage one of the modelling process
was to duplicate the effects seen in the existing chute. These
details will not be gone into here, but suffice to say, the effects
in the existing chute were verified, as was the trajectory.

TRANSFER CHUTES

Figure 7: Model of chute handling copper ore.

Figure 8: Comparison of adhesive build-up on back wall between model, left, and full scale
chute, right (with permission from Gulf Conveyor Systems).

The trajectory was critical in this case, and careful positioning of the model of the revised design was used to work out
how far to move the head pulley so that the deflector was not
needed and the flow could be sufficiently centred to load the
outgoing belt without bias. In DSM we can set the transition
geometry up to match the actual belt. DEM packages at this
stage do not allow this feature, allowing only the one simple
transition geometry where the head pulley is in the plane of the
troughing idlers. This is an uncommon configuration in the real
world and does not allow accurate trajectory prediction.
When the chute was built, the flow patterns were seen
to match the full scale chute perfectly. However, perhaps the
most impressive feature of the validation in this case was the
duplication of the form of the adhesive build-up on the back
wall over time. A comparison of this build-up in the model and
the full scale chute is shown in figure 8.
There are many other examples that could be used to illustrate the validation techniques mentioned in table1, but there
is not space here to provide more. The four cases shown illustrate not only how well validated the modelling method is, but
how long ago the validation process was achieved and how
it applies even to complex features seen in chutes handling
highly variable and cohesive ores.
This is far in advance of what we are seeing published
on DEM at present, with validation still lingering within the
realm of tentative laboratory scale bench tests, beginning to
extend into meso-scale tests and being confined almost exclusively to hood and spoon style chutes.

has been applied to a wide variety of ores, both free-flowing

and cohesive as well as the full range of chute designs. It is not
necessary to use scaled down versions of the actual ore. In fact
the relevant ore properties do not scale in the cohesive case.
Instead, synthetic ores can be made from a variety of mixtures
of materials and these can be used to successfully model the
flow of ores in full scale chutes.

References

Conclusion

Bagnold RA, 1954, Experiments on a Gravity-Free Dispersion of Large Solid Spheres in a Newtonian Fluid under
Shear. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, 225, 49-63.
Brennen CE , Sabersky RH, 1989 Shear Flows of Rapidly
Flowing Granular Materials Trans ASME,.J. Applied Mechanics, Vol 54, 801-805.
G. D. R Midi, 2004, On dense granular flows, Eur. Phys. J.
E, 14, 341-365.
Mitarai N, Nori F,2006, Wet granular materials, Advances in
Physics, Vol 55, Nos 1-2, 1-55.
Roberts AW, 1969, An Investigation of the Gravity Flow of
Non-cohesive Granular Materials through Discharge Chutes,
Trans. A.S.M.E,.,J Engrg. Ind.,91,373.
Roberts AW, 2001, Chute Design Considerations for Feeding and Transfer, Proceedings of the BeltCon 11 conference,
Randburg, Republic of South Africa.
Savage, SB. 1979, Gravity flow of cohesionless granular materials in chutes and channels, J. Fluid Mech, vol. 92, part 1, 53-96.
Booth, E.P.O.1934 Trajectories from conveyors - method of
calculating them corrected. Engineering and Mining Journal,
Vol. 135, No. 12, pp. 552-554.

Dynamic scale modelling of transfer chutes has been in successful, validated operation for nearly 20 years in Australia and

Contact: Peter Donecker, email bulksm@q-net.net.au

Australian Bulk Handling Review: September/October 2011

87