An Experimentally Validated Magnetic Force Model for Discrete Element Modeling of Paramagnetic Granular Media

An Experimentally Validated Magnetic Force Model for Discrete Element Modeling of Paramagnetic Granular Media | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article An Experimentally Validated Magnetic Force Model for Discrete Element Modeling of Paramagnetic Granular Media Anmol Sikka, Christine M. Hartzell This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8310872/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Magnetic interactions between metallic granular particles can lead to magnetic cohesion, influencing the flow characteristics of granular media. This magnetic cohesion has been studied in the context of Magneto-Rheological Fluids (MRF) for their unique flow properties and use in multiple industries. In Planetary Science, magnetic cohesion can influence the behavior of regolith on metallic asteroids with remnant magnetic fields. The upcoming NASA Psyche mission will study the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, which is expected to have a surface magnetic field. Modeling and simulating the effect of magnetic cohesion on granular media is crucial for accurately simulating the behavior of magnetic granular materials in both terrestrial and planetary applications. We introduce an improved magnetic force model in LIGGGHTS, an open-source discrete element modeling software, to calculate magnetic forces between paramagnetic grains. The model is based on the Mutual Dipole Method and the Inclusion Model, extensions of the Fixed Dipole Method. We validate the model using 1-D unit tests and compare the results from avalanche simulations of paramagnetic regolith with experiments. This work contributes to understanding the role of magnetic cohesion in small body surface processes and provides a tool for future studies of magnetic granular materials in DEM. Magnetic Cohesion Magnetic Dipoles Multipole Methods Magnetic Force Model MRF Asteroid Psyche SSDEM Numerical Modeling Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8310872","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":569772348,"identity":"7af6d9f4-e706-4175-927d-a019cedfca75","order_by":0,"name":"Anmol Sikka","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAApUlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZjZmBoYKIOMAA4MECVrOkKSFAaiFsY0ULfLtbMkGP+cdjuY7wHzwNg8xWgwOsx1O7N12OHfmAbZka+K0MLM3H+AFatlwgMdMmigt8s3szQf/zgFp4f9GnBYGoMOSeRvAtrARpwXol2RjmWPpuTMPsxlbziHKYf3HjCXf1Fjn9h1vfnjjDVEOgwNm0pSPglEwCkbBKMAHACBBMWr+i6d3AAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Maryland, College Park","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anmol","middleName":"","lastName":"Sikka","suffix":""},{"id":569772349,"identity":"51b6ac54-93b8-4b64-99fc-c5b01c33bca3","order_by":1,"name":"Christine M. Hartzell","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Maryland, College Park","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christine","middleName":"M.","lastName":"Hartzell","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-08 20:23:15","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8310872/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8310872/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":99797269,"identity":"86b52745-641f-472c-9d0c-b58d2c3b1c8f","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-08 13:45:32","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":3086357,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"GranularMatterSubmission.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8310872/v1_covered_f42f2926-b02d-4129-b2a5-3d17445aada0.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"An Experimentally Validated Magnetic Force Model for Discrete Element Modeling of Paramagnetic Granular Media","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Magnetic Cohesion, Magnetic Dipoles, Multipole Methods, Magnetic Force Model, MRF, Asteroid Psyche, SSDEM, Numerical Modeling","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8310872/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8310872/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Magnetic interactions between metallic granular particles can lead to magnetic cohesion, influencing the flow characteristics of granular media. This magnetic cohesion has been studied in the context of Magneto-Rheological Fluids (MRF) for their unique flow properties and use in multiple industries. In Planetary Science, magnetic cohesion can influence the behavior of regolith on metallic asteroids with remnant magnetic fields. The upcoming NASA Psyche mission will study the metallic asteroid 16 Psyche, which is expected to have a surface magnetic field. Modeling and simulating the effect of magnetic cohesion on granular media is crucial for accurately simulating the behavior of magnetic granular materials in both terrestrial and planetary applications. We introduce an improved magnetic force model in LIGGGHTS, an open-source discrete element modeling software, to calculate magnetic forces between paramagnetic grains. The model is based on the Mutual Dipole Method and the Inclusion Model, extensions of the Fixed Dipole Method. We validate the model using 1-D unit tests and compare the results from avalanche simulations of paramagnetic regolith with experiments. This work contributes to understanding the role of magnetic cohesion in small body surface processes and provides a tool for future studies of magnetic granular materials in DEM.","manuscriptTitle":"An Experimentally Validated Magnetic Force Model for Discrete Element Modeling of Paramagnetic Granular Media","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-01-07 18:25:20","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8310872/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1450df13-1609-4b40-b9ce-75ebfbaecb94","owner":[],"postedDate":"January 7th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-12T08:38:14+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-01-07 18:25:20","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-8310872","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-8310872","identity":"rs-8310872","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}