Discharge flow of a bidisperse granular media from a silo

Phys Rev E Stat Nonlin Soft Matter Phys. 2014 Sep;90(3):032201. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevE.90.032201. Epub 2014 Sep 2.

Abstract

The discharge flow in a cylindrical and a rectangular silo using both monodisperse and bidisperse mixtures of spherical glass beads is studied experimentally. The flow rate is measured using a precision balance for a large range of particle diameters, size ratios, and outlet diameters. A simple physical model is proposed to describe the flow of bidisperse mixtures. It gives an expression for the flow rate and predicts that the bulk velocity follows a simple mixture law. This model implies that a mixture diameter cannot be simply defined. Moreover it is shown that bidisperse granular media allow for the transport of coarse particles below their jamming conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Motion*
  • Particle Size
  • Time Factors