Diffusion of a granular pulse in a rotating drum

Nicolas Taberlet (1) , Patrick Richard (2)

1 DAMTP - Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics
2 GMCM - Groupe matière condensée et matériaux

The diffusion of a pulse of small grains in an horizontal rotating drum is studied through discrete elements methods simulations. We present a theoretical analysis of the diffusion process in a one-dimensional confined space in order to elucidate the effect of the confining end-plate of the drum. We then show that the diffusion is neither subdiffusive nor superdiffusive but normal. This is demonstrated by rescaling the concentration profiles obtained at various stages and by studying the time evolution of the mean squared deviation. Finally we study the self-diffusion of both large and small grains and we show that it is normal and that the diffusion coefficient is independent of the grain size.

Mots clés: granular flows; rotating drum; diffusion; mixing

Domaines: Autre [cond-mat.other]; Mécanique statistique [cond-mat.stat-mech]

Nicolas Taberlet, Patrick Richard. Diffusion of a granular pulse in a rotating drum. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2006, 73, pp.041301. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.73.041301⟩. ⟨hal-00022010⟩