The Behavior Of A Macroscopic Granular Material In Vortex Flow

A granular material is defined as a collection of discrete particles such as powder and grain. Granular materials display a large number of complex behaviors. In this project, the behavior of macroscopic granular materials under tornado-like vortex airflow, with varying airflow velocity, was observed and studied. The experimental system was composed of a 9.20-cm inner diameter acrylic pipe with a metal mesh bottom holding the particles, a PVC duct, and an airflow source controlled by a variable auto-transformer, and a power-meter. A fixed fan blade was attached to the duct's inner wall to create a tornado-like vortex airflow from straight flow. As the airflow velocity was increased gradually, the behavior of a set of same-diameter granular materials was observed. The observed behaviors were classified into six phases based on the macroscopic mechanical dynamics. Through this project, we gained insights on the significant parameters for a computer simulation of a similar system by Heath Rice [5]. Comparing computationally and experimentally observed phase diagrams, we can see similar structure. The experimental observations shothe effect of initial arrangement of particles on the phase transitions.

Name thesis:degree_name

M.S. in Physics

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Physics and Astronomy

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Nishikawa, Asami

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joseph R. Gladden
• Cecille Labuda
• Luca Bombelli

• Physics

Repository record dc:identifier

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/764

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:egrove.olemiss.edu:etd-1763