Fermi-like behavior of weakly vibrated granular matter

Vertical movement of zirconia-yttria stabilized 2 mm balls is measured by a laser facility at the surface of a vibrated 3D granular matter under gravity. Realizations z(t) are measured from the top of the container by tuning the fluidized gap with a 1D measurement window in the direction of the gravity. The statistics obeys a Fermi-like configurational approach which is tested by the relation between the dispersions in amplitude and velocity. We introduce a generalized equipartition law to characterize the ensemble of particles which cannot be described in terms of a Brownian motion. The relation between global granular temperature and the external excitation frequency is established.     

Sudden chain energy transfer events in vibrated granular media

In a mixture of two species of grains of equal size but different mass, placed in a vertically vibrated shallow box, there is spontaneous segregation. Once the system is at least partly segregated and clusters of the heavy particles have formed, there are sudden peaks of the horizontal kinetic energy of the heavy particles, that is otherwise small. Together with the energy peaks the clusters rapidly expand and the segregation is partially lost. The process repeats once segregation has taken place again, either randomly or with some regularity in time depending on the experimental or numerical parameters. An explanation for these events is provided based on the existence of a fixed point for an isolated particle bouncing with only vertical motion. The horizontal energy peaks occur when the energy stored in the vertical motion is partly transferred into horizontal energy through a chain reaction of collisions between heavy particles.     

Density fluctuations in a model for vibrated granular media

This paper presents the study of density fluctuations in a model for vibrated granular media. Their microscopic origin is shown to be linked to the microscopic disorder in grains packing. Varying vibrations amplitude and duration, several regimes are found for density relaxation. Its power spectrum is well described by power laws.     

颗粒链在振动条件下的行为研究

采用实验方法研究打结颗粒链在外部激振下解结过程与激振源以及颗粒链长度的关系.实验结果表明颗粒链结解开所需的时间与振动频率有关,颗粒链解结存在截止频率和最佳振动频率;颗粒链解结时间与链长之间呈非线性关系.同时采用Monte Carlo时步模拟的方法,对珠链解结的动力学模型进行仿真.     

Experimental characterization of vibrated granular rings

We report an experimental study of the statistical properties of vibrated granular rings. In this system, a linked rod and bead metallic chain in the form of a ring is collisionally excited by a vertically oscillating plate. The dynamics are driven primarily by inelastic bead-plate collisions and are simultaneously constrained by the rings' physical connectedness. By imaging many instances of the ring configurations, we measure the ensemble averages and distributions of several physical characteristics on the scale of individual beads and composite ring. We study local properties such as inter-bead separation and inter-bonds angles, and global properties such as the radius of gyration and center-of-mass motion. We characterize scaling with respect to the size of the chain.     

Convection, heaping, and cracking in vertically vibrated granular slurries

We address the situation in which vibration is applied to thin layers of granular material with water filling the pore space, but with air above. Beyond a critical drive parameter we observe heap-shaped convecting domains of nontrivial topology, which exhibit cracks as the forcing amplitude is further increased. We summarize these results in a phase diagram, understand the onset of the convecting heaps as a manifestation of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability for fluids, and measure the response of isolated convecting structures.     

Energy and power fluctuations in vibrated granular gases

Using two-dimensional numerical simulations of a granular gas excited by vibrating one of the container boundaries, we study the fluctuations of its total kinetic energy, of the power injected into the gas by the moving boundary and of the power dissipated by inelastic collisions. We show that an effective number N _f of degrees of freedom that depends on the inelasticity of collisions can be extracted from the probability density function (PDF) of the fluctuations of the total kinetic energy E. is then an intensive variable contrary to the usually defined granular temperature . We then show that an intensive temperature can also be calculated from the probability of certain large deviations of the injected power. Finally, we show that the fluctuations of injected and dissipated power are related such that their ratio is inversely proportional to the square-root of the ratio of their correlation times. This allows to define a quantity homogenous to a temperature that is intensive and conserved in the process of energy dynamics from its injection by the driving piston to its dissipation by inelastic collisions.Received: 3 August 2004, Published online: 14 December 2004PACS: 05.40.-a Fluctuation phenomena, random processes, noise, and Brownian motion - 05.45.-a Nonlinear dynamics and nonlinear dynamical systems     

Knots and random walks in vibrated granular chains

We study experimentally statistical properties of the opening times of knots in vertically vibrated granular chains. Our measurements are in good qualitative and quantitative agreement with a theoretical model involving three random walks interacting via hard-core exclusion in one spatial dimension. In particular, the knot survival probability follows a universal scaling function which is independent of the chain length, with a corresponding diffusive characteristic time scale. Both the large-exit-time and the small-exit-time tails of the distribution are suppressed exponentially, and the corresponding decay coefficients are in excellent agreement with theoretical values.     

Energy fluctuations in vibrated and driven granular gases

We investigate the behavior of energy fluctuations in several models of granular gases maintained in a non-equilibrium steady state. In the case of a gas heated from a boundary, the inhomogeneities of the system play a predominant role. Interpreting the total kinetic energy as a sum of independent but not identically distributed random variables, it is possible to compute the probability density function (pdf) of the total energy. Neglecting correlations and using the analytical expression for the inhomogeneous temperature profile obtained from the granular hydrodynamic equations, we recover results that have previously been observed numerically and that had been attributed to the presence of correlations. In order to separate the effects of spatial inhomogeneities from those ascribable to velocity correlations, we have also considered two models of homogeneously thermostated gases: in this framework it is possible to reveal the presence of non-trivial effects due to velocity correlations between particles. Such correlations stem from the inelasticity of collisions. Moreover, the observation that the pdf of the total energy tends to a Gaussian in the large system limit suggests that they are also due to the finite size of the system.     

Unifying suspension and granular rheology

Using an original pressure-imposed shear cell, we study the rheology of dense suspensions. We show that they exhibit a viscoplastic behavior similarly to granular media successfully described by a frictional rheology and fully characterized by the evolution of the friction coefficient μ and the volume fraction ? with a dimensionless viscous number I(v). Dense suspension and granular media are thus unified under a common framework. These results are shown to be compatible with classical empirical models of suspension rheology and provide a clear determination of constitutive laws close to the jamming transition.     

Jamming and fluctuations in granular drag

We investigate the dynamic evolution of jamming in granular media through fluctuations in the granular drag force. The successive collapse and formation of jammed states give a stick-slip nature to the fluctuations which is independent of the contact surface between the grains and the dragged object, thus implying that the stress-induced collapse is nucleated in the bulk of the granular sample. We also find that while the fluctuations are periodic at small depths, they become "stepped" at large depths, a transition which we interpret as a consequence of the long-range nature of the force chains.     

Forcing and velocity correlations in a vibrated granular monolayer

The role of forcing on the dynamics of a vertically shaken granular monolayer is investigated. Using a flat plate, surprising negative velocity correlations are measured. A mechanism for this anticorrelation is proposed with support from both experimental results and molecular dynamics simulations. Using a rough plate, velocity correlations are positive, and the velocity distribution evolves from a Gaussian at very low densities to a broader distribution at high densities. These results are interpreted as a balance between stochastic forcing, interparticle collisions, and friction with the plate.     

Theory of nonlinear rheology and yielding of dense colloidal suspensions

A first-principles approach to the nonlinear flow of dense suspensions is presented which captures shear thinning of colloidal fluids and dynamical yielding of colloidal glasses. The advection of density fluctuations plays a central role, suppressing the caging of particles and speeding up structural relaxation. A mode coupling approach is developed to explore these effects.     

Sublimation of a vibrated granular monolayer: coexistence of gas and solid

The fluidization of a monolayer of glass beads in a horizontally and vertically vibrated annular container is studied. At peak forcing accelerations between 1.1 and 1.5 g, a solidlike and a gaslike domain coexist. The solid fraction decreases with increasing acceleration and shows hysteresis. The sharp boundaries between the two regions travel around the channel faster than the particles are transported. Complementary to our experimental studies, a molecular dynamics simulation is used to extract local granular temperature and number density. It is found that the number density in the solid phase is several times that in the gas, while the temperature is orders of magnitude lower.     

On the occurrence of polygon-shaped patterns in vibrated cylindrical granular beds

We report experimental observations of polygon-shaped patterns formed in a vertically vibrated bed of circular cross-section. A phase map is determined, showing that the polygon pattern is established for ?? = A(2??f)²/g ? 10 . The sensitivity of the polygon structure to bed parameters was tested by studying beds of different particle sizes and fill levels. It was hypothesized that the polygon pattern observed in cylindrical beds is the corresponding pattern to the formation of arches in square-shaped beds. The close relationship between these two patterns was demonstrated by two observations: i) the radii of the arches of a corresponding square bed and the inner radius of the cylindrical bed were found to be very similar and ii) the boundary lengths of the two patterns were in good agreement.