The Influence of Non-uniform Vibration on Granular Jamming, Segregation and Self-assembly

Abstract eng:
Granular media exhibit many fascinating, and often unique, behaviours which are not only of considerable scientific interest, but may also prove highly impactful in various real-world processes – with both positive and negative consequences. The tendency of granular flows to ‘jam’ and become immobile, for example, can prove highly detrimental to the efficiency of various industrial processes. The predisposition of multicomponent mixtures to spontaneously ‘segregate’ into their individual constituents, meanwhile, can prove both extremely problematic or highly desirable in industry, and is also key to our understanding of various geological processes. Granular beds comprising aspherical particles also exhibit the ability to autonomously form complex, ordered patterns, reminiscent of those observed in colloidal or liquid crystal systems, making them valuable model systems for various thermodynamic and even biological systems. We demonstrate a means by which the vibrational excitation of granular systems may be harnessed to directly influence, and even control, these behaviours.

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