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Displacement fields in sheared particle packings often display vortex-like structures that reveal essential features about the mechanical state of the collection of particles. There are several metrics to quantify these flow field features, yet extracting such quantitative metrics from flow field or particle tracking data involves
making numerous choices on the time and length scales over which to average. Here we employ a much used experimental data set on sheared disk packings to explore how such arbitrary data mining choices affect the obtained results. We focus on calculating the strain dependent vorticity, as this metric is a differential method hence potentially sensitive to the way it is computed. We find that the total surface area with an absolute vorticity above a certain threshold approaches a plateau value as shear progresses. This plateau value exhibits a non-monotonic dependence on packing fraction. We also show which range of choices yields results that can
support an analysis method independent, physical interpretation of the flow field data.

Powders &amp; Grains 2021

Strain dependent vorticity in sheared granular media

[EPJ Web of Conferences, Volume 249 (2021)](https://www.epj-conferences.org/articles/epjconf/abs/2021/03/contents/contents.html)

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Powders & Grains 2021

Powders & Grains 2021 will be held in Buenos Aires (Argentina, VIRTUAL) July 5, 13, 21, 29 and Aug 6, 2021. The aim of the conference is to give an up-to-date picture of the broad research field of granular media, powders and grains. Contributions from experts around the world will focus on research topics that cover a wide range of open problems in the field.

poster

The surfaces of many planetary bodies, including asteroids, moons, and planets, are composed of rubble-like grains held together by varying levels of gravitational attraction and cohesive forces. Future instrumentation for operation on, and interacting with, such surfaces will require efficient and effective design principles and methods of testing. Here we present results from the EMPANADA experiment (Ejecta-Minimizing Protocols for Applications Needing Anchoring or Digging on Asteroids) which flew on several reduced gravity parabolic flights. EMPANADA studies the effects of the insertion of a flexible probe into a granular medium as a function of ambient gravity. This is done for an idealized 2D system as well as a more realistic 3D sample. To quantify the dynamics inside the 2D granular material we employ photoelasticity to identify the grain-scale forces throughout the system, while in 3D experiments we use simulated regolith. Experiments were conducted at three different levels of gravity: martian, lunar, and microgravity. In this work, we demonstrate that the photoelastic technique provides results that complement traditional load cell measurements in the 2D sample, and show that the idealized system exhibits similar behaviour to the more realistic 3D sample. We note that the presence of discrete, stick-slip failure events depends on the gravitational acceleration.

Probing regolith-covered surfaces in low gravity

In industrial powder processing, precise control of environmental temperature is difficult especially for large production facilities. A better knowledge of powder behavior modification due to temperature variation will help to improve product quality and consistency. From a fundamental point of view, the effect of temperature on powder flow and packing dynamics is still poorly understood. In particular, because temperature modifies the complex interplay between the different forces acting at the contact between the grains. The packing dynamics of a set of different powders (lactose, cacao and dried milk powder) has been investigated with a tapping experiment. After the filling procedure, the sample is heated and the evolution of the density is measured after each tap. We show that the packing dynamics is drastically influenced even for low temperature changes. Slight increase of temperature affects both the packing kinematics and the packing range characterised by the classical Hausner ratio analysis. Finally, the different physical mechanisms that could explain these modifications are discussed. The results of this preliminary study demonstrate the importance of temperature in powder behaviour and strongly motivate further investigations.


Packing dynamics of powders at high temperature

Industrial-scale discrete element simulations typically generate Gigabytes of data per time step, which implies that even opening a single file may require 5 - 15 minutes on conventional magnetic storage devices. Data science’s inherent multi-disciplinary nature makes the extraction of useful information challenging, often leading to undiscovered details or new insights. This study explores the potential of statistical learning to identify potential regions of interest for large scale discrete element simulations. We demonstrate that our in-house knowledge discovery and data mining system (KDS) can decompose large datasets into i) regions of potential interest to the analyst, ii) multiple decompositions that highlight different aspects of the data, iii) simplify interpretation of DEM generated data by focusing attention on the interpretation of automatically decomposed regions, and iv) streamline the analysis of raw DEM data by letting the analyst control the number of decomposition and the way the decompositions are performed. Multiple decompositions can be automated in parallel and compressed, enabling agile engagement with the analyst’s processed data. This study focuses on spatial and not temporal inferences.

From discrete element simulation data to process insights

The Discrete Element Method (DEM) has been successfully used to further understand GM behaviour where experimental means are not possible or limited. However, the vast majority of DEM publications use simplified spheres with rolling friction to account for particle shape, with a few using clumped spheres and super quadratics to better capture grain geometric detail. In this study, we compare the shear strength of packed polyhedral assemblies to spheres with rolling resistance to account for shape. Spheres were found to have the highest shear resistance as the limited rolling friction model could not capture the geometric of rotation grains which caused reordering and dilation. This geometric arrangement causes polyhedra to align faces in the shear direction, reducing the resistance to motion. Conversely, geometric interlocking can cause jamming resulting in a dramatic increase in shear resistance. Particle aspect ratio (elongation and fatness) was found to significantly
lower shear resistance, while more uniform aspect ratio’s increased shear resistance with shape non-convexity showing extremes of massive slip or jamming. Thus, while spheres with rolling friction may yield bulk shear strength similar to some polyhedra with a mild aspect ratio, the grain scale effect that leads to compaction and jamming from rotation and interlocking is missed. These results shed light on the complex impact that individual grain shape has on bulk behaviour and its importance.

A study on the effect of grain morphology on shear strength in granular materials

Landslides appear in many different forms and sizes, from devastating debris flows to overly optimistic sand castles. A familiar and well-documented feature of all landslides is the positive correlation between volume and landslide runout. Larger landslides have a greater potential to reach farther. Here we explore the low volume limit and find a surprising negative correlation between volume and landslide runout. A decrease in volume leads to an increase in runout. In a series of experiments we systematically vary the landslide volume to reveal a transition between these two regimes.

A landslide granular phase transition

In this work, we apply the theory of radiation and reception of acoustic waves in the analysis of the acoustic contributions of the silo music phenomenon. The length portion of the silo where the silo music phenomenon occurs is considered a continuous line source. The continuous line source modeled as a simple acoustic source permits the analysis of the acoustic far field, interpreting the polar graphics of the beam patterns of the acoustic contributions. We propose to apply this technique in the silo design to diminish adverse acoustic effects during the discharge process of granular materials. Additionally, we present calculations of the sound pressure level of the silo music phenomenon.

Acoustic radiation patterns of the silo music phenomenon

The moisture has been recognized to have a significant influence on the initiation movement of sand by wind and consequently on sand transport rates. The pertinent literature regarding these phenomena is sparse and current available theoretical and empirical models exhibit considerable disagreement regarding the magnitude of moisture effects. We believe that these discrepancies comes from the fact that the moisture levels are not well controlled neither properly measured and are susceptible to strongly vary over time due to evaporation. To get rid of the variability of moisture content due to evaporation, we propose a new approach based on the use of non-volatile liquid, namely silicon oil instead of water. This insures a proper control of the liquid content and the production of reliable data concerning the variation of the transport threshold with liquid content.

Aerodynamic and impact thresholds for cohesive mixture of sand and non-volatile liquid

A bidisperse medium of large sand particles and small glass beads is mixed in a cylindrical vessel that is put in rotational motion around an eccentric static rod. The subsequent segregation occurring in the system is investigated primarily at the free surface where the large particles concentration globally increases towards a limit value while oscillating. In order to gain deeper understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms causing the segregation, we also explore the dynamics in the bulk. Average residual bulk displacements fields both vertically and orthoradially could then be measured and show a secondary flow that counteracts the segregation process

Modulated segregation of a bidisperse granular mixture due to recirculation currents

We present a newly developed experiment for the examination of low-speed impacts under asteroidconditions. More specifically, our experimental setup enables us to simulate a very clean milligravity environ-ment under vacuum, in which projectiles are shot at a granular bed at several cm/s. This granular bed consists ofirregularly formed basalt particles with different size distributions. The experiment is carried out in the Bremendrop tower in its catapult mode, granting more than 9 s microgravity. Here, we discuss the setup and assess itsperformance.

Experiments on rebounding slow impacts under asteroid condition

We investigate failure in granular material with numerical simulations based upon DEM (Distinct Element Method). 

Failure is associated with a discontinuity in a component of the incremental strain over a plane surface through the condition of the determinant of the acoustic tensor to be zero.

DEM simulations are carried out on an aggregate of elastic frictional spheres, initially isotropically compressed and then sheared at constant pressure. 

The components of the stiffness tensor are evaluated numerically in
stressed states along the triaxial test, and employed in the condition of the acoustic tensor to predict localization.

This occurs in the pre-peak region, where the material behavior is on average incrementally frictionless, i.e., change in deviatoric stress due to the tangential forces is negligible.


Strain dependent vorticity in sheared granular media

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Probing regolith-covered surfaces in low gravity

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A study on the effect of grain morphology on shear strength in granular materials