DEM Simulation of the deposition and structure-formation of charged nanoparticles in electric fields

The discrete element method (DEM) is a versatile tool to model and compute the movement of large numbers of discrete particles including their interactions based on basic principles. This allows investigating the influence of electric fields on the transport and deposition of particles considering various forces such due to inertia, aerodynamics or electric fields without empirical simplifications. In the present PhD thesis, this method shall be employed to perform morphological studies of structures of charged nanoparticles under the influence of electric fields. The computational method is based on the OpenFOAM library. Based on that, the computational methods shall be further developed to consider the forces acting on charged particles in electric fields and the change of particle charge during deposition and collisions. The planned simulations are computationally very demanding and shall be realized using high performance and parallel computers such as the HLRN (Norddeutscher Verbund für Hoch- und Höchstleistungsrechnen). The work will be carried out in closed cooperation with project 4 (Elektrodynamisch kontrollierter Aufbau von 3D-Strukturen aus Funktions¬nano-partikeln) and project 5 (Analytische Berechnung von 2D- und 3D-Strukturen maximaler Entropie und neuer Material-Modifikationen).