Recurrent Clogging and Density Waves in Granular Material Flowing through a Narrow Pipe

We report on density waves in granular material, investigated both experimentally and numerically. When granular material falls through a long narrow pipe one observes recurrent clogging. The kinetic energy of the falling particles increases up to a characteristic threshold corresponding to the onset of recurrent clogging and density waves of no definite wavelength. The distances between regions of high density depend strongly on the initial conditions. They vary irregularly without any characteristic time and length scale. The particle-flow was investigated using 2D Molecular Dynamics simulations. Experimental investigations lead to equivalent results.