DRYING OF CLAY. II RHEOLOGICAL MODELISATION AND SIMULATION OF PHYSICAL PHENOMENA

The present study proposes the development of a complete mathematical modelling transfer phenomena involving at the same time heat, mass and momentum transfer during the drying process of clay. Clay is a generic example of colloid materials forming particulate gels. That can be considered as bi-constituent, homogeneous, isotropic, and highly deformable. The model was numerically solved by the finite difference method and validated by comparison of the numerical results with a previous set of experiments data. The simulation has allowed the determination of spatio-temporal evolution within the solid of different variables: temperature fields, moisture contents, displacement, deformation and stresses. The parametric sensibility has been analyzed in the case of thermophysical properties and the external heat transfer coefficient. Various values of external conditions have been analyzed.