Simulation of fatigue related variables in wood grinding, 2007 International Mechanical Pulping Conference

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In the past, simulation of industrial processes has been used successfully as a tool to enhance production efficiency. Less effort has been set to apply simulation tools to describe physical phenomena in unit processes. However, in order to achieve radical changes in industrial production processes such as mechanical pulping (grinding), a firmer connection between the physical behavior of the raw material and applied process is needed. In this presentation we will show how a basic physical model (Voigt-Kelvin solid) is used to simulate the impact of applied strain amplitude on the heat dissipation as well as on local compression distribution inside wood in the grinding process. The simulation results demonstrate consistently that an increase of the applied amplitude in a range of 0 – 0.25 mm changes radically both the temperature profile as well as the compression pattern inside the wood. This is essential in order to show plausible ways to enhance the fatigue work on the wood and at the same time suppress unnecessary heat generation. This evidently reduces the specific energy consumption in wood grinding.