This tutorial describes the usage of the Edinburgh Elasto-Plastic Cohesion (EEPA)
contact model through the simulation of a pharmaceutical tablet press.
Objective
The objective of this tutorial is to:
Showcase the usage and capabilities of the EEPA contact model
Plot graphs with custom model properties
Problem description
A pharmaceutical company is experiencing problems with their tablet production, where
their tableting press does not produce enough compaction and/or their powder mix is
not cohesive enough, leading to tablets falling apart. The company is looking to
simulate the process to gain better insight into the problem.
The tablet press consists of a die and upper and lower punches which compact the
tablet material. The Geometry setup is shown in the following image: Figure 1. Tablet Press
On the meso scale, many compressed granular materials exhibit a behavior which can be
characterized by elasto-plastic deformation accompanied with an increase in
cohesion. Such materials include soil, fine dry powders, organic material, ore
fines, and so on. To address the need to simulate such materials, the EEPA model has
been developed at The University of Edinburgh. It is a versatile and non-linear
model which incorporates hysteresis, cohesion and Van der Waals type forces in the
contact mechanics equations. The contact function and a simple example is shown in
the following image: Figure 2. Contact function
Important: You must download the simulation and
associated CAD files before starting the tutorial. To download the simulation
files for this tutorial, see Download
Simulation Files.
Edinburgh Elasto-Plastic Adhesion Tablet Press Tutorial Video
