Abstract
The homogenization of granular flows through narrow pipes is important for a broad range of technological and industrial applications. Here we show, by means of molecular dynamics simulations, that such homogenization can be achieved by adding a helical inner-wall texture to the pipe, without the need for energy input from any external source. By using such a texture, jamming is prevented and the granular flux can be predicted using a modified Beverloo equation that accounts for the wavelength of the helical texture.
Highlights
Granular pipe flows are characterized by intermittent behavior and large, potentially destructive solid fraction variations in the transport direction
The dynamics of density waves in granular pipe flows have been studied extensively in the past [1,2,3,4,5], it is still a challenging problem to control the mass flux of the granular material flowing through a pipe
Most of the proposed strategies to control the transport along the pipe involve energy input from an external source, e.g. through application of electric fields [7] or mechanical perturbations [8]
Summary
Granular pipe flows are characterized by intermittent behavior and large, potentially destructive solid fraction variations in the transport direction. Most of the proposed strategies to control the transport along the pipe involve energy input from an external source, e.g. through application of electric fields [7] or mechanical perturbations [8]. We demonstrate a method to homogeneize the mass flux and avoid flow blockage in granular pipe flows without necessity of applying any external source of energy to the system. By means of particle-based numerical experiments, we will show that it is possible to achieve flows with prescribed characteristics regarding the particle distribution within the pipe and the mass flow rate of the granular material by adjusting the geometric properties of the helix-shaped texture
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