Advanced Powder Technol., Vol. 18, No. 6, pp. 795–801 (2007)  VSP and Society of Powder Technology, Japan 2007. Also available online - www.brill.nl/apt Invited paper Influence of particle-scale properties on the charge transfer characteristics in semiconducting particulate packing: particle-based finite element analysis S. J. ANTONY * and B. STOCKWELL Institute of Particle Science and Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK Received 12 May 2007; accepted 29 June 2007 Abstract—The role of single-particle properties on the (macroscopic) charge distribution characteris- tics in particulate packing is not yet well understood, in spite of their extensive industrial relevance. In this paper, using computer simulations, we probe the influence of packing structure and size of the con- stituting particles on the charge distribution characteristics in semiconducting deterministic particulate packing. The simulations are based on the coupled particle finite element method approach (three- dimensional). We show that ordered particulate structures transfer charge more efficiently across the bed than for amorphous packing. For a given packing structure (face-centered cubic), the measure of charge transfer across the bed per unit area increases with decreasing particle size. The overall con- ductivity of the bed is proportional to the bead conductivity used in the packing. The ramping time for full potential across the packing is attained in just about 1 ms. The results show that the variations in the structural packing arrangement and size of the particles strongly influence the charge distribution (hopping) characteristics in particulate assemblies. Keywords: Particulate mechanics; electromechanics; granular materials; powder technology. 1. INTRODUCTION Electromechanics research to understand the fundamental behavior of particle as- semblies in an applied electrical environment is at the cutting edge of research and relevant for several industrial sectors, e.g. the sensor, semiconductor and printing industries, photography applications, micro/nano technologies and granular valves. Although extensive research is being carried out in this field using computational and experimental methods (e.g. Refs [1 –5]), the role of individual particle prop- erties and their packing structure on charge distribution characteristics in particu- late packing is still poorly understood. The situation becomes yet more complex * To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: S.J.Antony@leeds.ac.uk