End wall effect on particle motion in a chute flow

Abstract

The influence of the end wall of a chute on the rotation of internal characteristic particles is mainly on the z-axis. A measurement device based on inertial measurement technology does not require the assistance of external information; hence, it is especially suitable for measuring the angular and translational velocities of internal characteristic particles. To study the influence of the end wall of the chute on the motions of the internal characteristic particles, the z-axis rotational and translational velocities of the internal characteristic particles in the chute were measured, and it was found that the rotational velocity about the z-axis differs according to the initial position. The z-axis angular velocity of a characteristic particle at the centre fluctuates near 0, and the average value approaches 0. The z-axis angular velocity of a characteristic particle at the left end wall is typically negative. This phenomenon is due to the influence of the end wall on the rotational motions of particles with initial positions that are near the end wall. In addition, the average translational velocity of the characteristic particles is also affected by the end wall. The distributions of the average z-axis angular velocity and the average translational velocity are quantitatively analysed, and the correlation between the tilt angle of the chute and the end wall effect is studied.