102 research outputs found
Coarsening Dynamics of Granular Heaplets in Tapped Granular Layers
A semi-continuum model is introduced to study the dynamics of the formation
of granular heaplets in tapped granular layers. By taking into account the
energy dissipation of collisions and screening effects due to avalanches, this
model is able to reproduce qualitatively the pattern of these heaplets. Our
simulations show that the granular heaplets are characterised by an effective
surface tension which depends on the magnitude of the tapping intensity. Also,
we observe that there is a coarsening effect in that the average size of the
heaplets, V grows as the number of taps k increases. The growth law at
intermediate times can be fitted by a scaling function V ~ k^z but the range of
validity of the power law is limited by size effects. The growth exponent z
appears to diverge as the tapping intensity is increased.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Nearest pattern interaction and global pattern formation
We studied the effect of nearest pattern interaction on a globally pattern
formation in a 2-dimensional space, where patterns are to grow initially from a
noise in the presence of periodic supply of energy. Although our approach is
general, we found that this study is relevant in particular to the pattern
formation on a periodically vibrated granular layer, as it gives a unified
perspective of the experimentally observed pattern dynamics such as oscillon
and stripe formations, skew-varicose and crossroll instabilities, and also a
kink formation and decoration
Phase Changes in an Inelastic Hard Disk System with a Heat Bath under Weak Gravity for Granular Fluidization
We performed numerical simulations on a two-dimensional inelastic hard disk
system under gravity with a heat bath to study the dynamics of granular
fluidization. Upon increasing the temperature of the heat bath, we found that
three phases, namely, the condensed phase, locally fluidized phase, and
granular turbulent phase, can be distinguished using the maximum packing
fraction and the excitation ratio, or the ratio of the kinetic energy to the
potential energy.It is shown that the system behavior in each phase is very
different from that of an ordinary vibrating bed.Comment: 4 pages, including 5 figure
Predicting polydisperse granular segregation
Most granular materials in industrial applications and natural settings are size-polydisperse, but most models and simulations of segregation consider only bidisperse particle distributions. Here, we extend our recently developed theoretical advection–diffusion–segregation model to polydisperse particle distributions. To test the theoretical approach, we model and simulate grains log-normally distributed by size in a chute flow. In steady state, material near the free surface is dominated by large particles, whereas the lower regions are composed of mostly small particles. The segregation pattern depends on a single dimensionless control parameter, which is a function of the particle sizes, the diffusion coefficient, the shear rate, and the flowing layer depth. Interestingly, for all values of the control parameter, the overall log normal particle size distribution is approximately maintained at each spatial location, but with different mean and variance than the overall particle distribution. To confirm the theoretical results, we use discrete element method (DEM) simulations using a general purpose graphics processing unit. Quantitative agreement is found between theory and DEM simulations. Funded by the Dow Chemical Company
Kink-induced transport and segregation in oscillated granular layers
We use experiments and molecular dynamics simulations of vertically
oscillated granular layers to study horizontal particle segregation induced by
a kink (a boundary between domains oscillating out of phase). Counter-rotating
convection rolls carry the larger particles in a bidisperse layer along the
granular surface to a kink, where they become trapped. The convection
originates from avalanches that occur inside the layer, along the interface
between solidified and fluidized grains. The position of a kink can be
controlled by modulation of the container frequency, making possible systematic
harvesting of the larger particles.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Solitary vortex couples in viscoelastic Couette flow
We report experimental observation of a localized structure, which is of a
new type for dissipative systems. It appears as a solitary vortex couple
("diwhirl") in Couette flow with highly elastic polymer solutions. A unique
property of the diwhirls is that they are stationary, in contrast to the usual
localized wave structures in both Hamiltonian and dissipative systems which are
stabilized by wave dispersion. It is also a new object in fluid dynamics - a
couple of vortices that build a single entity somewhat similar to a magnetic
dipole. The diwhirls arise as a result of a purely elastic instability through
a hysteretic transition at negligible Reynolds numbers. It is suggested that
the vortex flow is driven by the same forces that cause the Weissenberg effect.
The diwhirls have a striking asymmetry between the inflow and outflow, which is
also an essential feature of the suggested elastic instability mechanism.Comment: 9 pages (LaTeX), 5 Postscript figures, submitte
Controlled Dynamics of Interfaces in a Vibrated Granular Layer
We present experimental study of a topological excitation, {\it interface},
in a vertically vibrated layer of granular material. We show that these
interfaces, separating regions of granular material oscillation with opposite
phases, can be shifted and controlled by a very small amount of an additional
subharmonic signal, mixed with the harmonic driving signal. The speed and the
direction of interface motion depends sensitively on the phase and the
amplitude of the subharmonic driving.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, RevTe
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