Discharge flow of a bidisperse granular media from a silo

M. Benyamine (1) , M. Djermane (1) , B. Dalloz-Dubrujeaud (2) , P. Aussillous (2)

1 Universite de bechar
2 IUSTI - Institut universitaire des systèmes thermiques industriels

The discharge flow in a cylindrical and a rectangular silo using both monodisperse and bidisperse mixtures of spherical glass beads is studied experimentally. The flow rate is measured using a precision balance for a large range of particle diameters, size ratios, and outlet diameters. A simple physical model is proposed to describe the flow of bidisperse mixtures. It gives an expression for the flow rate and predicts that the bulk velocity follows a simple mixture law. This model implies that a mixture diameter cannot be simply defined. Moreover it is shown that bidisperse granular media allow for the transport of coarse particles below their jamming conditions.

Domaines: Matière Molle [cond-mat.soft]

M. Benyamine, M. Djermane, B. Dalloz-Dubrujeaud, P. Aussillous. Discharge flow of a bidisperse granular media from a silo. Physical Review E : Statistical, Nonlinear, and Soft Matter Physics, 2014, 90 (3), pp.32201 - 32201. ⟨10.1103/PhysRevE.90.032201⟩. ⟨hal-01431984⟩