Competing Flow of Dissimilar Granular Materials in Air

摘要

The flow behaviour of granular systems of dissimilar particles is investigated numerically. Binary mixtures of particles of different densities are considered and different initial configurations (i.e., bi-layered, bi-column and random mixture) are modelled. The competition between the flow of the dissimilar particles in a vertical tube is analysed. In addition, the influence of air on the competing flow behaviour is addressed by comparing the flow behaviour in air and in a vacuum. It is found that the competing flow behaviour depends on the dissimilarity of the constituent particles, such as air sensitivity and the initial configuration. Furthermore, it is illustrated that the presence of air has a significant impact on the flow behaviour, which can induce dramatic rearrangements of the dissimilar particles for the stratified systems and segregation of randomly mixed systems.