Increasing granular flow rate with obstructions
Soft Condensed Matter
2017-03-23 v1
Abstract
We describe a simple experiment involving spheres rolling down an inclined plane towards a bottleneck and through a gap. Results of the experiment indicate that flow rate can be increased by placing an obstruction at optimal positions near the bottleneck. We use the experiment to develop a computer simulation using the PhysX physics engine. Simulations confirm the experimental results and we state several considerations necessary to obtain a model that agrees well with experiment. We demonstrate that the model exhibits clogging, intermittent and continuous flow, and that it can be used as a tool for further investigations in granular flow.
Cite
@article{arxiv.1703.07395,
title = {Increasing granular flow rate with obstructions},
author = {Alan Murray and Fernando Alonso-Marroquin},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1703.07395},
year = {2017}
}
Comments
7 pages, 6 figures