4,065 research outputs found
Diffusion of a granular pulse in a rotating drum
The diffusion of a pulse of small grains in an horizontal rotating drum is
studied through discrete elements methods simulations. We present a theoretical
analysis of the diffusion process in a one-dimensional confined space in order
to elucidate the effect of the confining end-plate of the drum. We then show
that the diffusion is neither subdiffusive nor superdiffusive but normal. This
is demonstrated by rescaling the concentration profiles obtained at various
stages and by studying the time evolution of the mean squared deviation.
Finally we study the self-diffusion of both large and small grains and we show
that it is normal and that the diffusion coefficient is independent of the
grain size
Shear-induced fragmentation of Laponite suspensions
Simultaneous rheological and velocity profile measurements are performed in a
smooth Couette geometry on Laponite suspensions seeded with glass microspheres
and undergoing the shear-induced solid-to-fluid (or yielding) transition. Under
these slippery boundary conditions, a rich temporal behaviour is uncovered, in
which shear localization is observed at short times, that rapidly gives way to
a highly heterogeneous flow characterized by intermittent switching from
plug-like flow to linear velocity profiles. Such a temporal behaviour is linked
to the fragmentation of the initially solid sample into blocks separated by
fluidized regions. These solid pieces get progressively eroded over time scales
ranging from a few minutes to several hours depending on the applied shear rate
. The steady-state is characterized by a homogeneous flow with
almost negligible wall slip. The characteristic time scale for erosion is shown
to diverge below some critical shear rate and to scale as
with above
. A tentative model for erosion is discussed together with
open questions raised by the present results.Comment: 19 pages, 13 figures, submitted to Soft Matte
The growth of a Super Stable Heap : an experimental and numerical study
We report experimental and numerical results on the growth of a super stable
heap (SSH). Such a regime appears for flows in a thin channel and for high flow
rate : the flow occurs atop a nearly static heap whose angle is stabilized by
the flowing layer at its top and the side wall friction. The growth of the
static heap is investigated in this paper. A theoretical analysis inspired by
the BRCE formalism predicts the evolution of the growth process, which is
confirmed by both experiments and numerical simulations. The model allows us to
link the characteristic time of the growth to the exchange rate between the
"moving" and "static" grains. We show that this rate is proportional to the
height of the flowing layer even for thick flows. The study of upstream
traveling waves sheds new light on the BCRE model
The S shape of a granular pile in a rotating drum
The shape of a granular pile in a rotating drum is investigated. Using
Discrete Elements Method (DEM) simulations we show that the "S shape" obtained
for high rotation speed can be accounted for by the friction on the end plates.
A theoretical model which accounts for the effect of the end plates is
presented and the equation of the shape of the free surface is derived. The
model reveals a dimensionless number which quantifies the influence of the end
plates on the shape of the pile. Finally, the scaling laws of the system are
discussed and numerical results support our conclusions
High performance computation of landscape genomic models integrating local indices of spatial association
Since its introduction, landscape genomics has developed quickly with the
increasing availability of both molecular and topo-climatic data. The current
challenges of the field mainly involve processing large numbers of models and
disentangling selection from demography. Several methods address the latter,
either by estimating a neutral model from population structure or by inferring
simultaneously environmental and demographic effects. Here we present
Samada, an integrated approach to study signatures of local adaptation,
providing rapid processing of whole genome data and enabling assessment of
spatial association using molecular markers. Specifically, candidate loci to
adaptation are identified by automatically assessing genome-environment
associations. In complement, measuring the Local Indicators of Spatial
Association (LISA) for these candidate loci allows to detect whether similar
genotypes tend to gather in space, which constitutes a useful indication of the
possible kinship relationship between individuals. In this paper, we also
analyze SNP data from Ugandan cattle to detect signatures of local adaptation
with Samada, BayEnv, LFMM and an outlier method (FDIST approach in
Arlequin) and compare their results. Samada is an open source software
for Windows, Linux and MacOS X available at \url{http://lasig.epfl.ch/sambada}Comment: 1 figure in text, 1 figure in supplementary material The structure of
the article was modified and some explanations were updated. The methods and
results presented are the same as in the previous versio
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