[learn_more caption=”James A. Elliott (Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, University of Cambridge)”] Dr James Elliott is a Reader in Macromolecular Materials in the University of Cambridge, where he directs an internationally recognized research group (www.mml.msm.cam.ac.uk) on multiscale computational modelling of soft matter systems, including granular materials, polymeric materials, carbon nanotubes and their composites. He obtained his MA in Natural Sciences (Physics) from Cambridge, and his PhD in Polymer Physics at the University of Bristol. He was a JSPS Invitation Fellow and Visiting Professor at the University of Tokyo in 2008, and is principal investigator in the Advanced Digital Design of Pharmaceutical Therapeutics (ADDoPT) project, a £20.4M industrial research Centre for the Digital Design of Drug Products funded by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills’ Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative. [/learn_more]

The relationship between the bulk flow and compaction behaviour of powders and the size, shape and physical properties of their constituent particles is complex and poorly understood from a fundamental point of view. In particular, for pharmaceutical drug products, it is desirable to know whether a particular compound or formulation will be straightforward to manufacture into a tablet at a very early stage in development, before significant quantities of material are available for experimental analysis. In this talk, I will survey a range of modelling techniques, from the molecular through to the continuum scale, which can be used to predict powder properties, and how these can be integrated into a multiscale modelling framework that can be validated against experiment. Discrete (or distinct) element modelling techniques provide a particle-level description of the powder, but rely on accurate parameterisation of contact models which is increasingly obtained from atomistic or first-principles modelling techniques. Continuum modelling techniques, such as the finite element method, can be used to analyse much larger amounts of powder through the use of constitutive relations parameterised from experiment or particle-based models. These recent advances in numerical models have enabled the optimization of process and materials design in pharmaceutical powder systems.