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Packing and flow profiles of soft grains in 3D silos reconstructed with X-ray computed tomography

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Abstract

The outflow of hard grains from storage containers with narrow outlets has been extensively studied in the past. Most experiments focused on discharge rates and avalanche statistics. Flow fields inside such containers have been detected optically in two-dimensional (2D) or quasi-2D geometries. Soft grains behave qualitatively different in many respects, both in their static packing properties and during silo discharge. We employ X-ray computed tomography to map the particles in a 3D container and we compare the static packing characteristics and the flow profiles of soft hydrogel spheres with those of hard spheres. The local fill fraction of the soft grains depends upon the depth below the granular surface. The outflow of the soft, low frictional hydrogel spheres involves the complete container volume, stagnant zones are absent.

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Notes

  1. When averaging finite ensembles, the maximum value of \(\varDelta\) can even become slightly larger than 1/2 due to noise.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Torsten Trittel for valuable technical assistance. Tivadar Pongó and Maja Illig are acknowledged for participating in the measurements. The authors acknowledge financial support by DAAD and TEMPUS within the researcher exchange program (Grant No. 274464) and by the Hungarian National Research, Development and Innovation Office NKFIH under Grant OTKA K 116036. Georg Rose and Cindy Lübeck are cordially acknowledged for their assistance and for the opportunity to use the X-ray tomograph in the STIMULATE lab.

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  1. Institute of Physics, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany

    Ralf Stannarius, Diego Sancho Martinez & Tilo Finger

  2. Institute for Solid State Physics and Optics, Wigner Research Center for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

    Ellák Somfai & Tamás Börzsönyi

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  1. Ralf Stannarius
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  2. Diego Sancho Martinez
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Stannarius, R., Sancho Martinez, D., Finger, T. et al. Packing and flow profiles of soft grains in 3D silos reconstructed with X-ray computed tomography. Granular Matter 21, 56 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10035-019-0910-x

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