Thu November 6th 2008
16:00
HT 500A
Seminar Critical Phenomena in Granular Segregation
Tom Mullin

Details:

Segregation in mixtures of granular materials is a topic which is of interest to a broad range of scientists from physicists, to geologists and engineers. The phe- nomenon involves the spontaneous de-mixing of an initially mixed state into its con- stituent components under the action of flow. We will discuss these issues and present the results of experimental investigations into particle segregation in a binary mixture which is subject to horizontal forcing. The initially mixed state undergoes a surpris- ing self–organization process such that the two constituent components separate to form patterned structures. The pattern formation process shows critical dependence on the concentration ratio of the mixture and this seems to be in accord with notions of phase transitions. Moreover, changing the particle shape has a dramatic effect on the order of the transition.
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