Pneumatic fractures in confined granular media.

Science.gov (United States)

Eriksen, Fredrik K; Toussaint, Renaud; Turquet, Antoine L; Måløy, Knut J; Flekkøy, Eirik G

2017-06-01

We perform experiments where air is injected at a constant overpressure P_{in}, ranging from 5 to 250 kPa, into a dry granular medium confined within a horizontal linear Hele-Shaw cell. The setup allows us to explore compacted configurations by preventing decompaction at the outer boundary, i.e., the cell outlet has a semipermeable filter such that beads are stopped while air can pass. We study the emerging patterns and dynamic growth of channels in the granular media due to fluid flow, by analyzing images captured with a high speed camera (1000 images/s). We identify four qualitatively different flow regimes, depending on the imposed overpressure, ranging from no channel formation for P_{in} below 10 kPa, to large thick channels formed by erosion and fingers merging for high P_{in} around 200 kPa. The flow regimes where channels form are characterized by typical finger thickness, final depth into the medium, and growth dynamics. The shape of the finger tips during growth is studied by looking at the finger width w as function of distance d from the tip. The tip profile is found to follow w(d)∝d^{β}, where β=0.68 is a typical value for all experiments, also over time. This indicates a singularity in the curvature d^{2}d/dw^{2}∼κ∼d^{1-2β}, but not of the slope dw/dd∼d^{β-1}, i.e., more rounded tips rather than pointy cusps, as they would be for the case β>1. For increasing P_{in}, the channels generally grow faster and deeper into the medium. We show that the channel length along the flow direction has a linear growth with time initially, followed by a power-law decay of growth velocity with time as the channel approaches its final length. A closer look reveals that the initial growth velocity v_{0} is found to scale with injection pressure as v_{0}∝P_{in}^{3/2}, while at a critical time t_{c} there is a cross-over to the behavior v(t)∝t^{-α}, where α is close to 2.5 for all experiments. Finally, we explore the fractal dimension of the fully

On the rheology of dilative granular media: Bridging solid- and fluid-like behavior

Science.gov (United States)

Andrade, José E.; Chen, Qiushi; Le, Phong H.; Avila, Carlos F.; Matthew Evans, T.

2012-06-01

A new rate-dependent plasticity model for dilative granular media is presented, aiming to bridge the seemingly disparate solid- and fluid-like behavioral regimes. Up to date, solid-like behavior is typically tackled with rate-independent plasticity models emanating from Mohr-Coulomb and Critical State plasticity theory. On the other hand, the fluid-like behavior of granular media is typically treated using constitutive theories amenable to viscous flow, e.g., Bingham fluid. In our proposed model, the material strength is composed of a dilation part and a rate-dependent residual strength. The dilatancy strength plays a key role during solid-like behavior but vanishes in the fluid-like regime. The residual strength, which in a classical plasticity model is considered constant and rate-independent, is postulated to evolve with strain rate. The main appeal of the model is its simplicity and its ability to reconcile the classic plasticity and rheology camps. The applicability and capability of the model are demonstrated by numerical simulation of granular flow problems, as well as a classical shear banding problem, where the performance of the continuum model is compared to discrete particle simulations and physical experiment. These results shed much-needed light onto the mechanics and physics of granular media at various shear rates.

Experimental Study of Dry Granular Flow and Impact Behavior Against a Rigid Retaining Wall

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yuan-Jun; Towhata, Ikuo

2013-07-01

Shallow slope failure in mountainous regions is a common and emergent hazard in terms of its damage to important traffic routes and local communities. The impact of dry granular flows consisting of rock fragments and other particles resulting from shallow slope failures on retaining structures has yet to be systematically researched and is not covered by current design codes. As a preliminary study of the impact caused by dry granular flows, a series of dry granular impact experiments were carried out for one model of a retaining wall. It was indirectly verified that the total normal force exerted on a retaining wall consists of a drag force ( F d), a gravitational and frictional force ( F gf), and a passive earth force ( F p), and that the calculation of F d can be based on the empirical formula defined in NF EN Eurocode 1990 ( Eurocode structuraux. Base de calcul des structures, AFNOR La plaine Saint Denis, 2003). It was also indirectly verified that, for flow with Froude number from 6 to 11, the drag coefficient ( C d) can be estimated using the previously proposed empirical parameters.

Sound propagation in dry granular materials : discrete element simulations, theory, and experiments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mouraille, O.J.P.

2009-01-01

In this study sound wave propagation through different types of dry confined granular systems is studied. With three-dimensional discrete element simulations, theory and experiments, the influence of several micro-scale properties: friction, dissipation, particle rotation, and contact disorder, on

Granular flow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mitarai, Namiko; Nakanishi, Hiizu

2012-01-01

Granular material is a collection of macroscopic particles that are visible with naked eyes. The non-equilibrium nature of the granular materials makes their rheology quite different from that of molecular systems. In this minireview, we present the unique features of granular materials focusing...... on the shear flow of dry granular materials and granule-liquid mixture....

An Investigation of Parallel Post-Laminar Flow through Coarse Granular Porous Media with the Wilkins Equation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ashes Banerjee

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Behaviour of flow resistance with velocity is still undefined for post-laminar flow through coarse granular media. This can cause considerable errors during flow measurements in situations like rock fill dams, water filters, pumping wells, oil and gas exploration, and so on. Keeping the non-deviating nature of Wilkins coefficients with the hydraulic radius of media in mind, the present study further explores their behaviour to independently varying media size and porosity, subjected to parallel post-laminar flow through granular media. Furthermore, an attempt is made to simulate the post-laminar flow conditions with the help of a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD Model in ANSYS FLUENT, since conducting large-scale experiments are often costly and time-consuming. The model output and the experimental results are found to be in good agreement. Percentage deviations between the experimental and numerical results are found to be in the considerable range. Furthermore, the simulation results are statistically validated with the experimental results using the standard ‘Z-test’. The output from the model advocates the importance and applicability of CFD modelling in understanding post-laminar flow through granular media.

Deformation of a 3D granular media caused by fluid invasion

Science.gov (United States)

Dalbe, M. J.; Juanes, R.

2016-12-01

Multiphase flow in porous media plays a fundamental role in many natural and engineered subsurface processes. The interplay between fluid flow, medium deformation and fracture is essential in geoscience problems as disparate as fracking for unconventional hydrocarbon production, conduit formation and methane venting from lake and ocean sediments, and desiccation cracks in soil. Several experimental and computational studies have shown that the competition between capillary and friction forces can lead to different regimes of deformation, from frictional fingering to hydro-capillary fracturing (Sandnes et al., Nat. Comm. 2011, Holtzman et al., PRL 2012). Most of these investigations have focused, however, on 2D or quasi-2D systems. Here, we develop an experimental set-up that allows us to observe two-phase flow in a fully 3D granular bed and measure the fluid pressure while controlling the level of confining stress. We use an index matching technique to directly visualize the injection of a liquid in a granular media saturated with another, immiscible liquid. We extract the deformation the whole granular bulk as well as at the particle level. Our results show the existence of different regimes of invasion patterns depending on key dimensionless groups that control the system.

Characteristics of thermally assisted magnetic recording in granular perpendicular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shiino, Hirotaka; Kawana, Mayumi; Miyashita, Eiichi; Hayashi, Naoto; Watanabe, Sadayuki

2009-01-01

The effect of thermally assisted magnetic recording using granular perpendicular media with a single-pole-trimmed head has been investigated. A read/write experiment using a spin stand in which the media were heated by laser irradiation demonstrated that the track average amplitude strongly depends on both the position of the write head relative to the center of the laser spot in the down-track direction and on the laser power. Although the signal-to-noise ratio increased with the coercivity of the media, the increment was small; this is thought to be caused by an increase in the switching field distribution of the media with temperature. Our results suggest that the magnetic constant of the media must be optimized with respect to the temperature of writing in order for high-density thermally assisted magnetic recording to be realized

Poroelastic measurement schemes resulting in complete data sets for granular and other anisotropic porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berryman, J.G.

2009-11-20

Poroelastic analysis usually progresses from assumed knowledge of dry or drained porous media to the predicted behavior of fluid-saturated and undrained porous media. Unfortunately, the experimental situation is often incompatible with these assumptions, especially when field data (from hydrological or oil/gas reservoirs) are involved. The present work considers several different experimental scenarios typified by one in which a set of undrained poroelastic (stiffness) constants has been measured using either ultrasound or seismic wave analysis, while some or all of the dry or drained constants are normally unknown. Drained constants for such a poroelastic system can be deduced for isotropic systems from available data if a complete set of undrained compliance data for the principal stresses are available - together with a few other commonly measured quantities such as porosity, fluid bulk modulus, and grain bulk modulus. Similar results are also developed here for anisotropic systems having up to orthotropic symmetry if the system is granular (i.e., composed of solid grains assembled into a solid matrix, either by a cementation process or by applied stress) and the grains are known to be elastically homogeneous. Finally, the analysis is also fully developed for anisotropic systems with nonhomogeneous (more than one mineral type), but still isotropic, grains - as well as for uniform collections of anisotropic grains as long as their axes of symmetry are either perfectly aligned or perfectly random.

Measurement of magnetic property of FePt granular media at near Curie temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, H.Z.; Chen, Y.J.; Leong, S.H.; An, C.W.; Ye, K.D.; Hu, J.F.

2017-01-01

The characterization of the magnetic switching behavior of heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media at near Curie temperature (T_c) is important for high density recording. In this study, we measured the magnetic property of FePt granular media (with room temperature coercivity ~25 kOe) at near T_c with a home built HAMR testing instrument. The local area of HAMR media is heated to near T_c by a flat-top optical heating beam. The magnetic property in the heated area was in-situ measured by a magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) testing beam. The switching field distribution (SFD) and coercive field (H_c) of the FePt granular media and their dependence on the optical heating power at near T_c were studied. We measured the DC demagnetization (DCD) signal with pulsed laser heating at different optical powers. We also measured the T_c distribution of the media by measuring the AC magnetic signal as a function of optical heating power. In a summary, we studied the SFD, H_c of the HAMR media at near T_c in a static manner. The present methodology will facilitate the HAMR media testing. - Highlights: • A flat-top optical beam homogeneously heats up HAMR media to near T_c. • When H_c of media drops to 5 kOe with optical heating, SFD is measured to be 0.6. • H_c, SFD, M_s of HAMR media at near T_c are measured with the methodology.

Solitary Wave Interactions in Granular Media

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

WEN Zhen-Ying; WANG Shun-Jin; ZHANG Xiu-Ming; LI Lei

2007-01-01

We numerically study the interactions of solitary waves in granular media, by considering a chain of beads, which repel upon contact via the Hertz-type potential, V ∝δn, with 5/2 ≤n≤3 and δ≥0,δbeing the bead-bead overlap. There are two collision types of solitary waves, overtaking collision and head-on collision, in the chain of beads. Our quantitative results show that after collision the large solitary wave gains energy and the small one loses energy for overtaking type while the large one loses energy, and the small one gains energy for head-on type. The scattering effects decrease with n for overtaking collision whereas increase with n for head-on collision.

Measurement of magnetic property of FePt granular media at near Curie temperature

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, H.Z., E-mail: YANG_Hongzhi@dsi.a-star.edu.sg; Chen, Y.J.; Leong, S.H.; An, C.W.; Ye, K.D.; Hu, J.F.

2017-02-01

The characterization of the magnetic switching behavior of heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR) media at near Curie temperature (T{sub c}) is important for high density recording. In this study, we measured the magnetic property of FePt granular media (with room temperature coercivity ~25 kOe) at near T{sub c} with a home built HAMR testing instrument. The local area of HAMR media is heated to near T{sub c} by a flat-top optical heating beam. The magnetic property in the heated area was in-situ measured by a magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) testing beam. The switching field distribution (SFD) and coercive field (H{sub c}) of the FePt granular media and their dependence on the optical heating power at near T{sub c} were studied. We measured the DC demagnetization (DCD) signal with pulsed laser heating at different optical powers. We also measured the T{sub c} distribution of the media by measuring the AC magnetic signal as a function of optical heating power. In a summary, we studied the SFD, H{sub c} of the HAMR media at near T{sub c} in a static manner. The present methodology will facilitate the HAMR media testing. - Highlights: • A flat-top optical beam homogeneously heats up HAMR media to near T{sub c}. • When H{sub c} of media drops to 5 kOe with optical heating, SFD is measured to be 0.6. • H{sub c}, SFD, M{sub s} of HAMR media at near T{sub c} are measured with the methodology.

Elastic Nonlinear Response in Granular Media Under Resonance Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Jia, X.; Johnson, P. A.

2004-12-01

We are studying the elastic linear and nonlinear behavior of granular media using dynamic wave methods. In the work presented here, our goal is to quantify the elastic nonlinear response by applying wave resonance. Resonance studies are desirable because they provide the means to easily study amplitude dependencies of elastic nonlinear behavior and thus to characterize the physical nature of the elastic nonlinearity. This work has implications for a variety of topics, in particular, the in situ nonlinear response of surface sediments. For this work we constructed an experimental cell in which high sensitivity dynamic resonance studies were conducted using granular media under controlled effective pressure. We limit our studies here to bulk modes but have the capability to employ shear waves as well. The granular media are composed of glass beads held under pressure by a piston, while applying resonance waves from transducers as both the excitation and the material probe. The container is closed with two fitted pistons and a normal load is applied to the granular sample across the top piston. Force and displacement are measured directly. Resonant frequency sweeps with frequencies corresponding to the fundamental bulk mode are applied to the longitudinal source transducer. The pore pressure in the system is 1 atm. The glass beads used in our experiments are of diameter 0.5 mm, randomly deposited in a duralumin cylinder of diameter 30 mm and height of 15 mm. This corresponds to a granular skeleton acoustic wave velocity of v ª 750m/s under 50 N of force [0.07 Mpa]. The loaded system gives fundamental mode resonances in the audio frequency band at half a wavelength where resonance frequency is effective-pressure dependent. The volume fraction of glass beads thus obtained is found to be 0.63 ± 0.01. Plane-wave generating and detecting transducers of diameter 30 mm are placed on axis at the top and bottom of the cylindrical container in direct contact with the glass

Fuel micro-mechanics: homogenization, cracking, granular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Monerie, Yann

2010-01-01

This work summarizes about fifteen years of research in the field of micro-mechanics of materials. Emphasis is placed on the most recent work carried out in the context of nuclear safety. Micro-mechanics finds a natural place there, aiming to predict the behavior of heterogeneous materials with an evolving microstructure. The applications concerned mainly involve the nuclear fuel and its tubular cladding. The uranium dioxide fuel is modeled, according to the scales under consideration, as a porous ceramic or a granular medium. The strongly irradiated Zircaloy claddings are identified with a composite medium with a metal matrix and a gradient of properties. The analysis of these classes of material is rich in problems of a more fundamental nature. Three main themes are discussed: 1/ Homogenization, 2/ cracking, rupture and fragmentation, 3/ discrete media and fluid-grain couplings. Homogenization: The analytical scale change methods proposed aim to estimate or limit the linear and equivalent nonlinear behaviors of isotropic porous media and anisotropic composites with a metal matrix. The porous media under consideration are saturated or drained, with a compressible or incompressible matrix, and have one or two scales of spherical or ellipsoid pores, or cracks. The composites studied have a macroscopic anisotropy related to that of the matrix, and to the shape and spatial distribution of the inclusions. Thermoelastic, elastoplastic, and viscoplastic behaviors and ductile damage of these media are examined using different techniques: extensions of classic approaches, linear in particular, variational approaches and approaches using elliptical potentials with thermally activated elementary mechanisms. The models developed are validated on numerical finite element simulations, and their functional relevance is illustrated in comparison to experimental data obtained from the literature. The significant results obtained include a plasticity criterion for Gurson matrix

Effect of granular porous media on the composting of swine manure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Ku-Yong; Kim, Hyun-Woo; Han, Sun-Kee; Hwang, Eung-Ju; Lee, Chae-Young; Shin, Hang-Sik

2008-01-01

This study investigated the feasibility of a bulking agent of granular porous media (GPM) for the composting of swine manure. Two lab-scale composting reactors were operated to evaluate the general performances and maturity parameters using GPM made of wastes from the Portland cement manufacturing processes as an alternative bulking agent. The overall volatile solid (VS) removal was 38.5% (dry basis). During the experiments, moisture content ranged between 41% and 53%, ensuring feasibility of microbial activity in composting. Cured compost showed proper maturity and low phytotoxicity, despite the slight decreases of CO 2 production and VS removal at the second batch operation. Various physico-chemical parameters of the cured compost met the regulatory standards reported elsewhere. The pH, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, ammonia nitrogen and soluble organic carbon (SOC) of the cured compost were significantly correlated to the germination index (GI) using the seeds of Chinese cabbage and lettuce, indicating the progressive biodegradation of phytotoxins as well as organic matter. Consequently, the results obtained in this study demonstrate that GPM could contribute to the environmentally friendly and economical composting of problematic swine manure as a recyclable bulking agent

Effect of granular porous media on the composting of swine manure.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Ku-Yong; Kim, Hyun-Woo; Han, Sun-Kee; Hwang, Eung-Ju; Lee, Chae-Young; Shin, Hang-Sik

2008-11-01

This study investigated the feasibility of a bulking agent of granular porous media (GPM) for the composting of swine manure. Two lab-scale composting reactors were operated to evaluate the general performances and maturity parameters using GPM made of wastes from the Portland cement manufacturing processes as an alternative bulking agent. The overall volatile solid (VS) removal was 38.5% (dry basis). During the experiments, moisture content ranged between 41% and 53%, ensuring feasibility of microbial activity in composting. Cured compost showed proper maturity and low phytotoxicity, despite the slight decreases of CO2 production and VS removal at the second batch operation. Various physico-chemical parameters of the cured compost met the regulatory standards reported elsewhere. The pH, carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, ammonia nitrogen and soluble organic carbon (SOC) of the cured compost were significantly correlated to the germination index (GI) using the seeds of Chinese cabbage and lettuce, indicating the progressive biodegradation of phytotoxins as well as organic matter. Consequently, the results obtained in this study demonstrate that GPM could contribute to the environmentally friendly and economical composting of problematic swine manure as a recyclable bulking agent.

Double-layered perpendicular magnetic recording media of granular-type FePt-MgO films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Zhengang; Singh, Amarendra K.; Yin Jinhua; Perumal, A.; Suzuki, Takao

2005-01-01

The recording performance of double-layered granular-type FePt-MgO perpendicular magnetic recording media fabricated onto glass discs by sputtering is investigated. The (0 0 1)-textured FePt granular films are obtained by annealing FePt/MgO multilayers. Three different multilayer structures are compared in their magnetic properties and recording SNR performances. To evaluate thermal stability property of these granular-type FePt disks, the time-dependent magnetic force microscope (MFM) signal from the written bits on one of these disks is recorded in the temperature range 25-200 degree sign C. The signal decay at high observation temperature is interpreted based on the temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy (K u )

The effect of capped layer thickness on switching behavior in perpendicular CoCrPt based coupled granular/continuous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li, W.M.; Lim, W.K.; Shi, J.Z.; Ding, J.

2013-01-01

A systematic investigation of magnetic switching behavior of CoCrPt based capped media (perpendicularly coupled granular/continuous (CGC) media consisting of granular CoCrPt:SiO 2 TiO 2 Ta 2 O 5 /capped CoCrPt(B)) is performed by varying the thickness of the capped layer from 0 to 9 nm. The microscopic structures of CGC media with different thickness of capped layer are examined by transmission electron microscope. We find out that CoCrPt magnetic grains are separated by nonmagnetic oxide grain boundaries. Grain size and grain boundary are about 8.9 nm and 2 nm, respectively. The nonmagnetic oxide grain boundaries in the granular layer do not disappear immediately at the interface between the granular and capped layers. The amorphous grain boundary phase in the granular layer propagates to the top surface of the capped layer. After capping with the CoCrPt(B) layer, the grain size at the surface of CGC structure increases and the grain boundary decreases. Both coercivity and intergranular exchange coupling of the CGC media are investigated by Polar magneto-optic Kerr effect magnetometer and alternating gradient force magnetometer. Although H c apparently decreases at thicker capped layer, no obvious variation of macroscopic switching field distribution (SFD/H c ) is observed. We separate intrinsic switching field distribution from intergranular interactions. The investigation of reduced intrinsic SFD/H c and increased hysteresis loop slope at coercivity, suggests that improvement of absolute switching field distribution (SFD) is caused by both strong intergranular exchange coupling and uniform grain size. Micromagnetic simulation results further verify our conclusion that the capped layer in CGC media is not uniformly continuous but has some granular nature. However, grains in the CoCrPt(B) capped layer is not absolutely isolated, strong exchange coupling exists between grains. - Highlights: • In CGC media, CoCrPt magnetic grains are separated by nonmagnetic oxide

Submicron and Nanoparticulate Matter Removal by HEPA-Rated Media Filters and Packed Beds of Granular Materials

Science.gov (United States)

Perry, J. L.; Agui, J. H.; Vijayakimar, R

2016-01-01

Contaminants generated aboard crewed spacecraft by diverse sources consist of both gaseous chemical contaminants and particulate matter. Both HEPA media filters and packed beds of granular material, such as activated carbon, which are both commonly employed for cabin atmosphere purification purposes have efficacy for removing nanoparticulate contaminants from the cabin atmosphere. The phenomena associated with particulate matter removal by HEPA media filters and packed beds of granular material are reviewed relative to their efficacy for removing fine (less than 2.5 micrometers) and ultrafine (less than 0.01 micrometers) sized particulate matter. Considerations are discussed for using these methods in an appropriate configuration to provide the most effective performance for a broad range of particle sizes including nanoparticulates.

Scaling theory of drying in porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsimpanogiannis, I.N.; Yortsos, Y.C.; Poulou, S.; Kanellopoulos, N.; Stubos, A.K.

1999-01-01

Concepts of immiscible displacements in porous media driven by mass transfer are utilized to model drying of porous media. Visualization experiments of drying in two-dimensional glass micromodels are conducted to identify pore-scale mechanisms. Then, a pore network approach is used to analyze the advancing drying front. It is shown that in a porous medium, capillarity induces a flow that effectively limits the extent of the front, which would otherwise be of the percolation type, to a finite width. In conjuction with the predictions of a macroscale stable front, obtained from a linear stability analysis, the process is shown to be equivalent to invasion percolation in a stabilizing gradient. A power-law scaling relation of the front width with a diffusion-based capillary number is also obtained. This capillary number reflects the fact that drying is controlled by diffusion in contrast to external drainage. The scaling exponent predicted is compatible with the experimental results of Shaw [Phys Rev. Lett. 59, 1671 (1987)]. A framework for a continuum description of the upstream drying regimes is also developed. copyright 1999 The American Physical Society

Transport of Fluorescently Labeled Hydroxyapatite Nanoparticles in Saturated Granular Media at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations of Surfactants

Science.gov (United States)

Little is known about the mobility of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in granular media at environmentally relevant concentration of surfactant, which represents a critical knowledge gap in employing ENPs for in-situ remediation of contaminated groundwater. In this study, transpo...

Technological effect of vibroprocessing by flows of organic granular media

Science.gov (United States)

Lebedev, V. A.; Shishkina, A. P.; Davydova, I. V.; Morozova, A. V.

2018-03-01

The analysis of approaches to modeling of vibrational processing by granulated media is carried out. The vibroprocessing model which provides effective finishing of the surfaces of the parts due to the stone fruit organic media granules is developed. The model is based on the granule flow energy impact on the surface being treated. As the main characteristic of the organic media processing, a specific volumetric metal scrap is used, the physical meaning of which is the increase rate in the thickness of the material removed from the surface at a given velocity and pressure of the medium. It is shown that the metal scrap depends on the medium flow velocity, the height of the loading column of the granular medium, and the conditions for the formation of a medium stationary circulation motion. Based on the analysis of the results of experimental studies of the influence of amplitude-frequency characteristics on the removal of metal in the process of vibroprocessing with abrasive granules, the dependence of the specific volume metal removal is proposed for organic media processing, taking into account the threshold amplitude and frequency of oscillations of the working chamber, at which the effect of surface treatment is observed. The established set of relationships describing the effective conditions for vibroprocessing with stone organic media was obtained using experimental data, which allows us to assume that the model obtained is valid.

Preparation and recording characteristics of granular-type perpendicular magnetic recording media with thin intermediate layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shintaku, K.; Kiya, T.

2008-01-01

Granular-type media with thin Ru intermediate layer were prepared on a highly oriented high-B s FeCo soft underlayer (SUL). A CoPt-TiO 2 recording layer on a Ru intermediate layer of only 2 nm had high-crystal orientation, high H c of 6.5 kOe, and a high squareness ratio (SQ) of 0.99. The magnetic property of the SUL was also good. The recording performance was measured for the media with different Ru intermediate thicknesses by using a single-pole-type (SPT) head. The media had large reproduced output even for the Ru intermediate layer thickness of 2 nm

Preparation and recording characteristics of granular-type perpendicular magnetic recording media with thin intermediate layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shintaku, K. [Akita Research Institute of Advanced Technology, Akita Prefectural R and D Center, 4-21 Sanuki, Araya, Akita 010-1623 (Japan)], E-mail: shintaku@ait.pref.akita.jp; Kiya, T. [Akita Research Institute of Advanced Technology, Akita Prefectural R and D Center, 4-21 Sanuki, Araya, Akita 010-1623 (Japan)

2008-11-15

Granular-type media with thin Ru intermediate layer were prepared on a highly oriented high-B{sub s} FeCo soft underlayer (SUL). A CoPt-TiO{sub 2} recording layer on a Ru intermediate layer of only 2 nm had high-crystal orientation, high H{sub c} of 6.5 kOe, and a high squareness ratio (SQ) of 0.99. The magnetic property of the SUL was also good. The recording performance was measured for the media with different Ru intermediate thicknesses by using a single-pole-type (SPT) head. The media had large reproduced output even for the Ru intermediate layer thickness of 2 nm.

Uniform shock waves in disordered granular matter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gómez, L.R.; Turner, A.M.; Vitelli, V.

2012-01-01

The confining pressure P is perhaps the most important parameter controlling the properties of granular matter. Strongly compressed granular media are, in many respects, simple solids in which elastic perturbations travel as ordinary phonons. However, the speed of sound in granular aggregates

Discharge flow of a granular media from a silo: effect of the packing fraction and of the hopper angle

Science.gov (United States)

Benyamine, Mebirika; Aussillous, Pascale; Dalloz-Dubrujeaud, Blanche

2017-06-01

Silos are widely used in the industry. While empirical predictions of the flow rate, based on scaling laws, have existed for more than a century (Hagen 1852, translated in [1] - Beverloo et al. [2]), recent advances have be made on the understanding of the control parameters of the flow. In particular, using continuous modeling together with a mu(I) granular rheology seem to be successful in predicting the flow rate for large numbers of beads at the aperture (Staron et al.[3], [4]). Moreover Janda et al.[5] have shown that the packing fraction at the outlet plays an important role when the number of beads at the apeture decreases. Based on these considerations, we have studied experimentally the discharge flow of a granular media from a rectangular silo. We have varied two main parameters: the angle of the hopper, and the bulk packing fraction of the granular material by using bidisperse mixtures. We propose a simple physical model to describe the effect of these parameters, considering a continuous granular media with a dilatancy law at the outlet. This model predicts well the dependance of the flow rate on the hopper angle as well as the dependance of the flow rate on the fine mass fraction of a bidisperse mixture.

Traffic and Granular Flow ’03

CERN Document Server

Luding, Stefan; Bovy, Piet; Schreckenberg, Michael; Wolf, Dietrich

2005-01-01

These proceedings are the fifth in the series Traffic and Granular Flow, and we hope they will be as useful a reference as their predecessors. Both the realistic modelling of granular media and traffic flow present important challenges at the borderline between physics and engineering, and enormous progress has been made since 1995, when this series started. Still the research on these topics is thriving, so that this book again contains many new results. Some highlights addressed at this conference were the influence of long range electric and magnetic forces and ambient fluids on granular media, new precise traffic measurements, and experiments on the complex decision making of drivers. No doubt the “hot topics” addressed in granular matter research have diverged from those in traffic since the days when the obvious analogies between traffic jams on highways and dissipative clustering in granular flow intrigued both c- munities alike. However, now just this diversity became a stimulating feature of the ...

A Comparison of Streaming and Microelectrophoresis Methods for Obtaining the zeta Potential of Granular Porous Media Surfaces.

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson

1999-01-01

The electrokinetic behavior of granular quartz sand in aqueous solution is investigated by both microelectrophoresis and streaming potential methods. zeta potentials of surfaces composed of granular quartz obtained via streaming potential methods are compared to electrophoretic mobility zeta potential values of colloid-sized quartz fragments. The zeta values generated by these alternate methods are in close agreement over a wide pH range and electrolyte concentrations spanning several orders of magnitude. Streaming measurements performed on chemically heterogeneous mixtures of physically homogeneous sand are shown to obey a simple mixing model based on the surface area-weighted average of the streaming potentials associated with the individual end members. These experimental results support the applicability of the streaming potential method as a means of determining the zeta potential of granular porous media surfaces. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Anisotropy in cohesive, frictional granular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luding, Stefan

2005-01-01

The modelling of cohesive, frictional granular materials with a discrete particle molecular dynamics is reviewed. From the structure of the quasi-static granular solid, the fabric, stress, and stiffness tensors are determined, including both normal and tangential forces. The influence of the material properties on the flow behaviour is also reported, including relations between the microscopic attractive force and the macroscopic cohesion as well as the dependence of the macroscopic friction on the microscopic contact friction coefficient. Related to the dynamics, the anisotropy of both structure and stress are exponentially approaching the maximum

Network flow model of force transmission in unbonded and bonded granular media.

Science.gov (United States)

Tordesillas, Antoinette; Tobin, Steven T; Cil, Mehmet; Alshibli, Khalid; Behringer, Robert P

2015-06-01

An established aspect of force transmission in quasistatic deformation of granular media is the existence of a dual network of strongly versus weakly loaded particles. Despite significant interest, the regulation of strong and weak forces through the contact network remains poorly understood. We examine this aspect of force transmission using data on microstructural fabric from: (I) three-dimensional discrete element models of grain agglomerates of bonded subspheres constructed from in situ synchrotron microtomography images of silica sand grains under unconfined compression and (II) two-dimensional assemblies of unbonded photoelastic circular disks submitted to biaxial compression under constant volume. We model force transmission as a network flow and solve the maximum flow-minimum cost (MFMC) problem, the solution to which yields a percolating subnetwork of contacts that transmits the "maximum flow" (i.e., the highest units of force) at "least cost" (i.e., the dissipated energy from such transmission). We find the MFMC describes a two-tier hierarchical architecture. At the local level, it encapsulates intraconnections between particles in individual force chains and in their conjoined 3-cycles, with the most common configuration having at least one force chain contact experiencing frustrated rotation. At the global level, the MFMC encapsulates interconnections between force chains. The MFMC can be used to predict most of the force chain particles without need for any information on contact forces, thereby suggesting the network flow framework may have potential broad utility in the modeling of force transmission in unbonded and bonded granular media.

Tracing Thermal Creep Through Granular Media

Science.gov (United States)

Steinpilz, Tobias; Teiser, Jens; Koester, Marc; Schywek, Mathias; Wurm, Gerhard

2017-08-01

A temperature gradient within a granular medium at low ambient pressure drives a gas flow through the medium by thermal creep. We measured the resulting air flow for a sample of glass beads with particle diameters between 290 μ m and 420 μ m for random close packing. Ambient pressure was varied between 1 Pa and 1000 Pa. The gas flow was quantified by means of tracer particles during parabolic flights. The flow varies systematically with pressure between 0.2 cm/s and 6 cm/s. The measured flow velocities are in quantitative agreement to model calculations that treat the granular medium as a collection of linear capillaries.

Effect of deformation on the thermal conductivity of granular porous media with rough grain surface

Science.gov (United States)

Askari, Roohollah; Hejazi, S. Hossein; Sahimi, Muhammad

2017-08-01

Heat transfer in granular porous media is an important phenomenon that is relevant to a wide variety of problems, including geothermal reservoirs and enhanced oil recovery by thermal methods. Resistance to flow of heat in the contact area between the grains strongly influences the effective thermal conductivity of such porous media. Extensive experiments have indicated that the roughness of the grains' surface follows self-affine fractal stochastic functions, and thus, the contact resistance cannot be accounted for by models based on smooth surfaces. Despite the significance of rough contact area, the resistance has been accounted for by a fitting parameter in the models of heat transfer. In this Letter we report on a study of conduction in a packing of particles that contains a fluid of a given conductivity, with each grain having a rough self-affine surface, and is under an external compressive pressure. The deformation of the contact area depends on the fractal dimension that characterizes the grains' rough surface, as well as their Young's modulus. Excellent qualitative agreement is obtained with experimental data. Deformation of granular porous media with grains that have rough self-affine fractal surface is simulated. Thermal contact resistance between grains with rough surfaces is incorporated into the numerical simulation of heat conduction under compressive pressure. By increasing compressive pressure, thermal conductivity is enhanced more in the grains with smoother surfaces and lower Young's modulus. Excellent qualitative agreement is obtained with the experimental data.

Reduction of intergranular exchange coupling and grain size for high Ku CoPt-based granular media: Metal-oxide buffer layer and multiple oxide boundary materials

Science.gov (United States)

Tham, Kim Kong; Kushibiki, Ryosuke; Kamada, Tomonari; Hinata, Shintaro; Saito, Shin

2018-05-01

Investigation of magnetic properties and microstructure of granular media with various multiple oxides as the grain boundary material is reported. Saturation magnetization (Ms), uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy (Ku), and magnetic grain diameter (GD) of the granular media show linear correlation with volume weighted average for melting point (Tm) of each oxides (Tmave). Ku of magnetic grains (Kugrain) shows a trade-off relation with GD that it is a big challenge to satisfy both high Kugrain and small GD by only controlling Tmave. To obtain a granular medium with appropriate Kugrain, GD, and low degree of intergranular exchange coupling, the combination of Tmave control of grain boundary material by mixing oxides and employment of a buffer layer are required. Here the degree of intergranular exchange coupling is estimated from the slope of M-H loop at around coercivity (α). By applying this technique, a typical granular medium with Kugrain of 1.0×107 erg/cm3, GD of 5.1 nm, and α of 1.2 is realized.

Influence of inhomogeneous coercivities on media noise in granular perpendicular media investigated by using magnetic force microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bai, J.; Takahoshi, H.; Ito, H.; Rheem, Y.W.; Saito, H.; Ishio, S.

2004-01-01

We investigated the influence of the inhomogeneous coercivities on the media noise in a CoPtCr-SiO 2 granular perpendicular magnetic recording medium via ex situ and in situ magnetic force microscopy (MFM) techniques. The ex situ MFM analyses exhibited that transition zigzags contributed to strong magnetic clusters in noise images, and thus resulted in dominant component of the media noise. According to the in situ MFM measurements, it was suggested that an amount of magnetic grains inside a microscopic area reversed like one magnetic ''particle because of strong inter-grain exchange coupling, and that these microscopic areas showed their local magnetic switching behaviors. A mathematic transformation was used to obtain approximately the magnetization distribution in recording layer. And the individual microscopic areas inside recorded bits were compared quasi-quantitatively with those leading large transition zigzags in magnetization switching behaviors. It was indicated that the inhomogeneous coercivities is one of crucial reasons of the medium noise in the perpendicular magnetic recording

Relaxation-type nonlocal inertial-number rheology for dry granular flows

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Keng-lin; Yang, Fu-ling

2017-12-01

We propose a constitutive model to describe the nonlocality, hysteresis, and several flow features of dry granular materials. Taking the well-known inertial number I as a measure of sheared-induced local fluidization, we derive a relaxation model for I according to the evolution of microstructure during avalanche and dissipation processes. The model yields a nonmonotonic flow law for a homogeneous flow, accounting for hysteretic solid-fluid transition and intermittency in quasistatic flows. For an inhomogeneous flow, the model predicts a generalized Bagnold shear stress revealing the interplay of two microscopic nonlocal mechanisms: collisions among correlated structures and the diffusion of fluidization within the structures. In describing a uniform flow down an incline, the model reproduces the hysteretic starting and stopping heights and the Pouliquen flow rule for mean velocity. Moreover, a dimensionless parameter reflecting the nonlocal effect on the flow is discovered, which controls the transition between Bagnold and creeping flow dynamics.

Dynamics of electrostatically driven granular media: Effects of humidity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howell, D. W.; Aronson, Igor S.; Crabtree, G. W.

2001-01-01

We performed experimental studies of the effect of humidity on the dynamics of electrostatically driven granular materials. Both conducting and dielectric particles undergo a phase transition from an immobile state (granular solid) to a fluidized state (granular gas) with increasing applied field. Spontaneous precipitation of solid clusters from the gas phase occurs as the external driving is decreased. The clustering dynamics in conducting particles is primarily controlled by screening of the electric field but is aided by cohesion due to humidity. It is shown that humidity effects dominate the clustering process with dielectric particles

Reduction of intergranular exchange coupling and grain size for high Ku CoPt-based granular media: Metal-oxide buffer layer and multiple oxide boundary materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kim Kong Tham

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Investigation of magnetic properties and microstructure of granular media with various multiple oxides as the grain boundary material is reported. Saturation magnetization (Ms, uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy (Ku, and magnetic grain diameter (GD of the granular media show linear correlation with volume weighted average for melting point (Tm of each oxides (Tmave. Ku of magnetic grains (Kugrain shows a trade-off relation with GD that it is a big challenge to satisfy both high Kugrain and small GD by only controlling Tmave. To obtain a granular medium with appropriate Kugrain, GD, and low degree of intergranular exchange coupling, the combination of Tmave control of grain boundary material by mixing oxides and employment of a buffer layer are required. Here the degree of intergranular exchange coupling is estimated from the slope of M-H loop at around coercivity (α. By applying this technique, a typical granular medium with Kugrain of 1.0×107 erg/cm3, GD of 5.1 nm, and α of 1.2 is realized.

Long-range interactions in dilute granular systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Müller, M.K

2008-01-01

In this thesis, on purpose, we focussed on the most challenging, longest ranging potentials. We analyzed granular media of low densities obeying 1/r long-range interaction potentials between the granules. Such systems are termed granular gases and differ in their behavior from ordinary gases by

Effects of acoustic waves on stick-slip in granular media and implications for earthquakes

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, P.A.; Savage, H.; Knuth, M.; Gomberg, J.; Marone, Chris

2008-01-01

It remains unknown how the small strains induced by seismic waves can trigger earthquakes at large distances, in some cases thousands of kilometres from the triggering earthquake, with failure often occurring long after the waves have passed. Earthquake nucleation is usually observed to take place at depths of 10-20 km, and so static overburden should be large enough to inhibit triggering by seismic-wave stress perturbations. To understand the physics of dynamic triggering better, as well as the influence of dynamic stressing on earthquake recurrence, we have conducted laboratory studies of stick-slip in granular media with and without applied acoustic vibration. Glass beads were used to simulate granular fault zone material, sheared under constant normal stress, and subject to transient or continuous perturbation by acoustic waves. Here we show that small-magnitude failure events, corresponding to triggered aftershocks, occur when applied sound-wave amplitudes exceed several microstrain. These events are frequently delayed or occur as part of a cascade of small events. Vibrations also cause large slip events to be disrupted in time relative to those without wave perturbation. The effects are observed for many large-event cycles after vibrations cease, indicating a strain memory in the granular material. Dynamic stressing of tectonic faults may play a similar role in determining the complexity of earthquake recurrence. ??2007 Nature Publishing Group.

Acoustic probing of elastic behavior and damage in weakly cemented granular media

Science.gov (United States)

Langlois, V.; Jia, X.

2014-02-01

We investigate the elastic behavior and damage of weakly cemented granular media under external load with ultrasound. The cementation controlled experiments are performed by freezing the capillary liquid at the bead contact in a dense glass or polymeric [poly(methyl methacrylate)] bead pack wet by tetradecane of volume fraction ϕ = 0.1%-4%. When the pendular rings are solidified, an abrupt increase by a factor of 2 in the compressional wave velocity is observed. We interpret the data in terms of effective medium models in which the contact stiffnesses are derived by either a bonded contact model [P. J. Digby, J. Appl. Mech. 48, 803 (1981), 10.1115/1.3157738] or a cemented contact model [J. Dvorkin, A. Nur, and H. Yin, Mech. Mater. 18, 351 (1994), 10.1016/0167-6636(94)90044-2]. The former fails to quantitatively account for the results with a soft cement relative to the grain, whereas the latter considering the mechanical properties of the cement does apply. Moreover, we monitor the irreversible behavior of the cemented granular packs under moderate uniaxial loading (cemented materials is accompanied by a compressional wave velocity decrease up to 60%, likely due to the fractures induced at the grain-cement interfaces.

Deposition and shaking of dry granular piles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hasan, M.

2003-01-01

A friction force model describing reversible stick-slip transition during contact has been developed with the special purpose to simulate the deposition of granular material. A test with a mass on a conveyor belt kept in position by a spring shows that a numerical simulation of the dynamics of such

Swelling pressure and water absorption property of compacted granular bentonite during water absorption

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oyamada, T.; Komine, H.; Murakami, S.; Sekiguchi, T.; Sekine, I.

2012-01-01

Document available in extended abstract form only. Bentonite is currently planned to be used as buffer materials in engineered barrier of radioactive waste disposal. Granular bentonites are expected as the materials used in constructions as buffer materials by in-situ compaction methods. After applying these buffer materials, it is expected that the condition of the buffer area changes in long-term by the seepage of groundwater into buffer area. Therefore, it is important to understand water movement and swelling behavior of the buffer materials for evaluating the performance of engineered barrier. In this study, we investigated water absorption property and swelling pressure of compacted granular bentonite. Specifically, the process of swelling pressure and amount of water absorption of granular bentonite-GX (Kunigel-GX, produced at the Tsukinuno mine in Japan) were observed by laboratory tests. To discuss the influence of maximum grain size of bentonite particle on swelling pressure and water absorption property, two types of samples were used. One is granular sample which is Bentonite-GX controlled under 2 mm the maximum grain size, the other is milled sample which is Bentonite-GX with the maximum grain size under 0.18 mm by milling with the agate mortar. In addition, the mechanism on the swelling pressure of compacted granular bentonite was considered and discussed. In the cases of granular sample, swelling pressure increases rapidly, then gradually continues to increase up to maximum value. In the cases of milled sample, swelling pressure also increases rapidly at first. However, then its value decreases before progressing of gradual increase continues. Especially, this trend was clearly observed at a relatively low dry density. At the peaks of these curves, the swelling pressure of granular samples is lower than that of milled samples. In addition, the increasing of swelling pressure by the time the peak observed during the process of swelling pressure from

Dynamic Deformation and Collapse of Granular Columns

Science.gov (United States)

Uenishi, K.; Tsuji, K.; Doi, S.

2009-12-01

Large dynamic deformation of granular materials may be found in nature not only in the failure of slopes and cliffs — due to earthquakes, rock avalanches, debris flows and landslides — but also in earthquake faulting itself. Granular surface flows often consist of solid grains and intergranular fluid, but the effect of the fluid may be usually negligible because the volumetric concentration of grains is in many cases high enough for interparticle forces to dominate momentum transport. Therefore, the investigation of dry granular flow of a mass might assist in further understanding of the above mentioned geophysical events. Here, utilizing a high-speed digital video camera system, we perform a simple yet fully-controlled series of laboratory experiments related to the collapse of granular columns. We record, at an interval of some microseconds, the dynamic transient granular mass flow initiated by abrupt release of a tube that contains dry granular materials. The acrylic tube is partially filled with glass beads and has a cross-section of either a fully- or semi-cylindrical shape. Upon sudden removal of the tube, the granular solid may fragment under the action of its own weight and the particles spread on a rigid horizontal plane. This study is essentially the extension of the previous ones by Lajeunesse et al. (Phys. Fluids 2004) and Uenishi and Tsuji (JPGU 2008), but the striped layers of particles in a semi-cylindrical tube, newly introduced in this contribution, allow us to observe the precise particle movement inside the granular column: The development of slip lines inside the column and the movement of particles against each other can be clearly identified. The major controlling parameters of the spreading dynamics are the initial aspect ratio of the granular (semi-)cylindrical column, the frictional properties of the horizontal plane (substrate) and the size of beads. We show the influence of each parameter on the average flow velocity and final radius

Laser-Doppler acoustic probing of granular media with in-depth property gradient and varying pore pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bodet, L.; Dhemaied, A.; Mourgues, R.; Tournat, V.; Rejiba, F.

2012-01-01

Non-contacting ultrasonic techniques recently proved to be efficient in the physical modeling of seismic-wave propagation at various application scales, as for instance in the context of geological analogue and seismic modeling. An innovative experimental set-up is proposed here to perform laser-Doppler acoustic probing of unconsolidated granular media with varying pore pressures. The preliminary experiments presented here provide reproducible results and exploitable data, thus validating both the proposed medium preparation and pressure gradient generation procedure.

Strain localisation in granular media

OpenAIRE

Desrues , Jacques

1984-01-01

This study is devoted to strain localisation in Granular materials. Both experimental and theoretical results have been obtained.The first part of the thesis is a review of the methods and theories about rupture in sols mechanics and more generally, in solid mechanics. The classical framework of Shear Band analysis is presented, and the main results available for different classes of materials are discussed.The second part describes an experimental study of strain localisation in sand specime...

Experimental and Modeling Study on Detachment of Silver Nanoparticles in Saturated Granular Media

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, I.; Jeon, C. H.; Lawler, D. F.

2017-12-01

The detachment of citrate-capped silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) previously captured in a column packed with 350-μm glass beads was investigated either by increasing the hydrodynamic force (filtration velocity) or by reducing electrosteric attraction. Overall, the physical enforcement showed negligible (0.4 0.7%) release of attached AgNPs while the chemically-driven force resulted in the noticeable release up to 25.5% of attached AgNPs. Among the chemical parameters tested in this study, Na ionic strength reduction clearly demonstrated the reversible deposition in the secondary energy minimum of classical DLVO theory, yielding the most significant release of the attached AgNPs. The immediate and transient AgNP release after the ionic strength reduction further corroborated the weak deposition. However, an insignificant release was observed with Ca ionic strength reduction due to the strong Ca-citrate complexation and the subsequent deposition in the primary energy minimum; calculations indicated that the depth of the secondary energy minimum was only 1/10 that of the Na ion case. The natural organic matter (NOM) coating on both AgNPs and granular media resulted in approximately 6.1% greater AgNP release compared to the case without NOM coating, indicating additional weak deposition due to the reduced steric attraction between AgNPs and granular media. A modified filtration model in agreement with the experimental data provided the estimated detachment coefficient as a transient AgNP releasing capacity independent of the amount of attached AgNPs. The marginal difference between the detachment coefficients from Na ionic strength reduction and NOM coating indicates the release potential by NOM coating was possibly underestimated in the experimental study due to a lesser amount of the initially attached AgNPs. The findings provide insights into chemical factors on possible reentrainment behavior of the engineered nanoparticles in soil and groundwater contamination.

Diatomaceous earth and activated bauxite used as granular sorbents for the removal of sodium chloride vapor from hot flue gas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, S.H.D.; Swift, W.M.; Johnson, I.

1980-01-01

Diatomaceous earth and activated bauxite were tested as granular sorbents for use as filter media in granular-bed filters for the removal of gaseous alkali metal compounds from the hot (800/sup 0/C) flue gas of PFBC. Tests were performed at atmospheric pressure, using NaCl vapor transported in relatively dry simulated flue gas of PFBC. Either a fixed-bed combustor or a high-temperature sorption test rig was used. The effects of sorbent bed temperature, superficial gas velocity, gas hourly space velocity, and NaCl-vapor concentration in flue gas on the sorption behavior of these two sorbents and their ultimate sorption capacities were determined. Both diatomaceous earth and activated bauxite were found to be very effective in removing NaCl vapor from flue gas. Preliminary cost evaluations showed that they are economically attractive as granular sorbents for cleaning alkali vapor from simulated flue gas.

Lizard locomotion in heterogeneous granular media

Science.gov (United States)

Schiebel, Perrin; Goldman, Daniel

2014-03-01

Locomotion strategies in heterogeneous granular environments (common substrates in deserts), are relatively unexplored. The zebra-tailed lizard (C. draconoides) is a useful model organism for such studies owing to its exceptional ability to navigate a variety of desert habitats at impressive speed (up to 50 body-lengths per second) using both quadrapedal and bidepal gaits. In laboratory experiments, we challenge the lizards to run across a field of boulders (2.54 cm diameter glass spheres or 3.8 cm 3D printed spheres) placed in a lattice pattern and embedded in a loosely packed granular medium of 0.3 mm diameter glass particles. Locomotion kinematics of the lizard are recorded using high speed cameras, with and without the scatterers. The data reveals that unlike the lizard's typical quadrupedal locomotion using a diagonal gait, when scatterers are present the lizard is most successful when using a bipedal gait, with a raised center of mass (CoM). We propose that the kinematics of bipedal running in conjunction with the lizard's long toes and compliant hind foot are the keys to this lizard's successful locomotion in the presence of such obstacles. NSF PoLS

Performance of Heat Pump Dryer for Kaffir Lime Leaves and Quality of Dried Products under Different Temperatures and Media

OpenAIRE

N. Poomsa-ad; K. Deejing; L. Wiset

2011-01-01

This research is to study the performance of heat pump dryer for drying of kaffir lime leaves under different media and to compare the color values and essential oil content of final products after drying. In the experiments, kaffir lime leaves were dried in the closed-loop system at drying temperatures of 40, 50 and 60 oC. The drying media used in this study were hot air, CO2 and N2 gases. The velocity of drying media in the drying chamber was 0.4 m/s with bypass ratio o...

On the submerging of a spherical intruder into granular beds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wu Chuan-Yu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Granular materials are complex systems and their mechanical behaviours are determined by the material properties of individual particles, the interaction between particles and the surrounding media, which are still incompletely understood. Using an advanced discrete element method (DEM, we simulate the submerging process of a spherical projectile (an intruder into granular materials of various properties with a zero penetration velocity (i.e. the intruder is touching the top surface of the granular bed and released from stationary and examine its settling behaviour. By systematically changing the density and size of the intruder and the particle density (i.e. the density of the particles in the granular bed, we find that the intruder can sink deep into the granular bed even with a zero penetration velocity. Furthermore, we confirm that under certain conditions the granular bed can behave like a Newtonian liquid and the submerging intruder can reach a constant velocity, i.e. the terminal velocity, identical to the settling of a sphere in a liquid, as observed experimentally. A mathematical model is also developed to predict the maximum penetration depth of the intruder. The model predictions are compared with experimental data reported in the literature,good agreement was obtained, demonstrating the model can accurately predict the submerging behaviour of the intruder in the granular media.

Similitude study of a moving bed granular filter

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert C. Brown; Huawei Shi; Gerald Colver; Saw-Choon Soo [Iowa State University, IA (United States)

2003-12-10

The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of a moving bed granular filter designed for hot gas clean up. This study used similitude theory to devise experiments that were conducted at near-ambient conditions while simulating the performance of filters operated at elevated temperatures and pressures (850{sup o}C and 1000 kPa). These experiments revealed that the proposed moving bed granular filter can operate at high collection efficiencies, typically exceeding 99%, and low pressure drops without the need for periodic regeneration through the use of a continuous flow of fresh granular filter media in the filter. In addition, important design constraints were discovered for the successful operation of the proposed moving bed granular filter.

Transport of ARS-labeled hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in saturated granular media is influenced by surface charge variability even in the presence of humic acid

Science.gov (United States)

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticles (nHAP) are increasingly being used to remediate soils and water polluted by metals and radionuclides. The transport and retention of Alizarin red S (ARS)-labeled nHAP in water-saturated granular media were investigated. Experiments were conducted over a range of ionic ...

Improved oral bioavailability of probucol by dry media-milling.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Jia; Yang, Yan; Zhao, Meihui; Xu, Hui; Ma, Junyuan; Wang, Shaoning

2017-09-01

The polymer/probucol co-milled mixtures were prepared to improve drug dissolution rate and oral bioavailability. Probucol, a BCS II drug, was co-milled together with Copovidone (Kollidon VA64, VA64), Soluplus, or MCC using the dry media-milling process with planetary ball-milling equipment. The properties of the milled mixtures including morphology, crystal form, vitro drug dissolution and in vivo oral bioavailability in rats were evaluated. Probucol existed as an amorphous in the matrix of the co-milled mixtures containing VA64, which helped to enhance drug dissolution. The ternary mixture composed of VA64, RH40, and probucol showed increased dissolution rates in both sink and non-sink conditions. It also had a higher oral bioavailability compared to the reference formulation. Dry-media milling of binary or ternary mixtures composed of drug, polymer and surfactant possibly have wide applications to improve dissolution rate and oral bioavailability of water-insoluble drugs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Acoustic waves in granular materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mouraille, O.J.P.; Luding, Stefan

2008-01-01

Dynamic simulations with discrete elements are used to obtain more insight into the wave propagation in dense granular media. A small perturbation is created on one side of a dense, static packing and examined during its propagation until it arrives at the opposite side. The influence of

Micro origins for macro behavior in granular media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zhao, J.; Jiang, M.; Soga, K.; Luding, Stefan

2016-01-01

We report the latest advances in understanding, characterization and modeling of key micro mechanisms and origins underpinning the interesting and complex macroscopic behavior of granular matter. Included in this Topical Collection are novel theories, innovative experimental tools and new numerical

In situ bioremediation: A network model of diffusion and flow in granular porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Griffiths, S.K.; Nilson, R.H.; Bradshaw, R.W.

1997-04-01

In situ bioremediation is a potentially expedient, permanent and cost- effective means of waste site decontamination. However, permeability reductions due to the transport and deposition of native fines or due to excessive microorganism populations may severely inhibit the injection of supplemental oxygen in the contamination zone. To help understand this phenomenon, we have developed a micro-mechanical network model of flow, diffusion and particle transport in granular porous materials. The model differs from most similar models in that the network is defined by particle positions in a numerically-generated particle array. The model is thus widely applicable to computing effective transport properties for both ordered and realistic random porous media. A laboratory-scale apparatus to measure permeability reductions has also been designed, built and tested.

Uniform shock waves in disordered granular matter.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, Leopoldo R; Turner, Ari M; Vitelli, Vincenzo

2012-10-01

The confining pressure P is perhaps the most important parameter controlling the properties of granular matter. Strongly compressed granular media are, in many respects, simple solids in which elastic perturbations travel as ordinary phonons. However, the speed of sound in granular aggregates continuously decreases as the confining pressure decreases, completely vanishing at the jamming-unjamming transition. This anomalous behavior suggests that the transport of energy at low pressures should not be dominated by phonons. In this work we use simulations and theory to show how the response of granular systems becomes increasingly nonlinear as pressure decreases. In the low-pressure regime the elastic energy is found to be mainly transported through nonlinear waves and shocks. We numerically characterize the propagation speed, shape, and stability of these shocks and model the dependence of the shock speed on pressure and impact intensity by a simple analytical approach.

Impact of spatially correlated pore-scale heterogeneity on drying porous media

Science.gov (United States)

Borgman, Oshri; Fantinel, Paolo; Lühder, Wieland; Goehring, Lucas; Holtzman, Ran

2017-07-01

We study the effect of spatially-correlated heterogeneity on isothermal drying of porous media. We combine a minimal pore-scale model with microfluidic experiments with the same pore geometry. Our simulated drying behavior compares favorably with experiments, considering the large sensitivity of the emergent behavior to the uncertainty associated with even small manufacturing errors. We show that increasing the correlation length in particle sizes promotes preferential drying of clusters of large pores, prolonging liquid connectivity and surface wetness and thus higher drying rates for longer periods. Our findings improve our quantitative understanding of how pore-scale heterogeneity impacts drying, which plays a role in a wide range of processes ranging from fuel cells to curing of paints and cements to global budgets of energy, water and solutes in soils.

Force and flow at the onset of drag in plowed granular media.

Science.gov (United States)

Gravish, Nick; Umbanhowar, Paul B; Goldman, Daniel I

2014-04-01

We study the transient drag force FD on a localized intruder in a granular medium composed of spherical glass particles. A flat plate is translated horizontally from rest through the granular medium to observe how FD varies as a function of the medium's initial volume fraction, ϕ. The force response of the granular material differs above and below the granular critical state, ϕc, the volume fraction which corresponds to the onset of grain dilatancy. For ϕϕc, FD rapidly rises to a maximum and then decreases over further displacement. The maximum force for ϕ>ϕc increases with increasing drag velocity. In quasi-two-dimensional drag experiments, we use granular particle image velocimetry (PIV) to measure time resolved strain fields associated with the horizontal motion of a plate started from rest. PIV experiments show that the maxima in FD for ϕ>ϕc are associated with maxima in the spatially averaged shear strain field. For ϕ>ϕc the shear strain occurs in a narrow region in front of the plate, a shear band. For ϕϕc, surface particles move only during the formation of the shear band, coincident with the maxima in FD, after which the particles remain immobile until the sheared region reaches the measurement region.

Mechanical Behavior of Granular/Particulate Media Reinforced with Fibers

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Michalowski, Radoslw

1999-01-01

... out. This investigation was built on the results of a previous study. Fiber-reinforced granular material was considered as a composite, and a mathematical homogenization scheme was used to arrive at its macroscopic properties...

Grain scale observations of stick-slip dynamics in fluid saturated granular fault gouge

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, P. A.; Dorostkar, O.; Guyer, R. A.; Marone, C.; Carmeliet, J.

2017-12-01

We are studying granular mechanics during slip. In the present work, we conduct coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) simulations to study grain scale characteristics of slip instabilities in fluid saturated granular fault gouge. The granular sample is confined with constant normal load (10 MPa), and sheared with constant velocity (0.6 mm/s). This loading configuration is chosen to promote stick-slip dynamics, based on a phase-space study. Fluid is introduced in the beginning of stick phase and characteristics of slip events i.e. macroscopic friction coefficient, kinetic energy and layer thickness are monitored. At the grain scale, we monitor particle coordination number, fluid-particle interaction forces as well as particle and fluid kinetic energy. Our observations show that presence of fluids in a drained granular fault gouge stabilizes the layer in the stick phase and increases the recurrence time. In saturated model, we observe that average particle coordination number reaches higher values compared to dry granular gouge. Upon slip, we observe that a larger portion of the granular sample is mobilized in saturated gouge compared to dry system. We also observe that regions with high particle kinetic energy are correlated with zones of high fluid motion. Our observations highlight that spatiotemporal profile of fluid dynamic pressure affects the characteristics of slip instabilities, increasing macroscopic friction coefficient drop, kinetic energy release and granular layer compaction. We show that numerical simulations help characterize the micromechanics of fault mechanics.

A constitutive law for dense granular flows.

Science.gov (United States)

Jop, Pierre; Forterre, Yoël; Pouliquen, Olivier

2006-06-08

A continuum description of granular flows would be of considerable help in predicting natural geophysical hazards or in designing industrial processes. However, the constitutive equations for dry granular flows, which govern how the material moves under shear, are still a matter of debate. One difficulty is that grains can behave like a solid (in a sand pile), a liquid (when poured from a silo) or a gas (when strongly agitated). For the two extreme regimes, constitutive equations have been proposed based on kinetic theory for collisional rapid flows, and soil mechanics for slow plastic flows. However, the intermediate dense regime, where the granular material flows like a liquid, still lacks a unified view and has motivated many studies over the past decade. The main characteristics of granular liquids are: a yield criterion (a critical shear stress below which flow is not possible) and a complex dependence on shear rate when flowing. In this sense, granular matter shares similarities with classical visco-plastic fluids such as Bingham fluids. Here we propose a new constitutive relation for dense granular flows, inspired by this analogy and recent numerical and experimental work. We then test our three-dimensional (3D) model through experiments on granular flows on a pile between rough sidewalls, in which a complex 3D flow pattern develops. We show that, without any fitting parameter, the model gives quantitative predictions for the flow shape and velocity profiles. Our results support the idea that a simple visco-plastic approach can quantitatively capture granular flow properties, and could serve as a basic tool for modelling more complex flows in geophysical or industrial applications.

Analytical and Computational Modeling of Mechanical Waves in Microscale Granular Crystals: Nonlinearity and Rotational Dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Wallen, Samuel P.

Granular media are one of the most common, yet least understood forms of matter on earth. The difficulties in understanding the physics of granular media stem from the fact that they are typically heterogeneous and highly disordered, and the grains interact via nonlinear contact forces. Historically, one approach to reducing these complexities and gaining new insight has been the study of granular crystals, which are ordered arrays of similarly-shaped particles (typically spheres) in Hertzian contact. Using this setting, past works explored the rich nonlinear dynamics stemming from contact forces, and proposed avenues where such granular crystals could form designer, dynamically responsive materials, which yield beneficial functionality in dynamic regimes. In recent years, the combination of self-assembly fabrication methods and laser ultrasonic experimental characterization have enabled the study of granular crystals at microscale. While our intuition may suggest that these microscale granular crystals are simply scaled-down versions of their macroscale counterparts, in fact, the relevant physics change drastically; for example, short-range adhesive forces between particles, which are negligible at macroscale, are several orders of magnitude stronger than gravity at microscale. In this thesis, we present recent advances in analytical and computational modeling of microscale granular crystals, in particular concerning the interplay of nonlinearity, shear interactions, and particle rotations, which have previously been either absent, or included separately at macroscale. Drawing inspiration from past works on phononic crystals and nonlinear lattices, we explore problems involving locally-resonant metamaterials, nonlinear localized modes, amplitude-dependent energy partition, and other rich dynamical phenomena. This work enhances our understanding of microscale granular media, which may find applicability in fields such as ultrasonic wave tailoring, signal processing

Physical modelling of granular flows at multiple-scales and stress levels

Science.gov (United States)

Take, Andy; Bowman, Elisabeth; Bryant, Sarah

2015-04-01

The rheology of dry granular flows is an area of significant focus within the granular physics, geoscience, and geotechnical engineering research communities. Studies performed to better understand granular flows in manufacturing, materials processing or bulk handling applications have typically focused on the behavior of steady, continuous flows. As a result, much of the research on relating the fundamental interaction of particles to the rheological or constitutive behaviour of granular flows has been performed under (usually) steady-state conditions and low stress levels. However, landslides, which are the primary focus of the geoscience and geotechnical engineering communities, are by nature unsteady flows defined by a finite source volume and at flow depths much larger than typically possible in laboratory experiments. The objective of this paper is to report initial findings of experimental studies currently being conducted using a new large-scale landslide flume (8 m long, 2 m wide slope inclined at 30° with a 35 m long horizontal base section) and at elevated particle self-weight in a 10 m diameter geotechnical centrifuge to investigate the granular flow behavior at multiple-scales and stress levels. The transparent sidewalls of the two flumes used in the experimental investigation permit the combination of observations of particle-scale interaction (using high-speed imaging through transparent vertical sidewalls at over 1000 frames per second) with observations of the distal reach of the landslide debris. These observations are used to investigate the applicability of rheological models developed for steady state flows (e.g. the dimensionless inertial number) in landslide applications and the robustness of depth-averaged approaches to modelling dry granular flow at multiple scales. These observations indicate that the dimensionless inertial number calculated for the flow may be of limited utility except perhaps to define a general state (e.g. liquid

Dynamics of crater formations in immersed granular materials

Science.gov (United States)

Varas, G.; Vidal, V.; Géminard, J.

2009-12-01

Craters are part of the widespread phenomena observed in nature. Among the main applications to natural phenomena, aside from meteorite impact craters, are the formation and growth of volcanic edifices, by successive ejecta emplacement and/or erosion. The time evolution and dynamics play a crucial role here, as the competition between volcanic-jet mass-flux (degassing and ejecta) and crater-size evolution may control directly the eruptive regime. Crater morphology in dry granular material has been extensively studied, both experimentally and theoretically. Most of these studies investigate the final, steady crater shape resulting from the collision of solid bodies with the material surface and scaling laws are derived. In immersed granular material, craters generated by an underwater vortex ring, or underwater impact craters generated by landslide, have been reported. In a previous experimental study, Gostiaux et al. [Gran. Matt., 2002] have investigated the dynamics of air flowing through an immersed granular layer. They reported that, depending on the flow rate, the system exhibits two qualitatively different regimes: At small flow rate, the bubbling regime during which bubbles escape the granular layer independently one from another; At large flow rate, the open-channel regime which corresponds to the formation of a channel crossing the whole thickness of the granular bed through which air escapes almost continuously. At intermediate flow rate, a spontaneous alternation between these two regimes is observed. Here, we report the dynamics of crater formations at the free surface of an immersed granular bed, locally crossed by an ascending gas flow. We reproduce the experimental conditions of Gostiaux et al. (2002) in two dimensions: In a vertical Hele-Shaw cell, the crater consists of two sand piles which develop around the location of the gas emission. We observe that the typical size of the crater increases logarithmically with time, independently of the gas

Wet granular matter a truly complex fluid

CERN Document Server

Herminghaus, Stephan

2013-01-01

This is a monograph written for the young and advanced researcher who is entering the field of wet granular matter and keen to understand the basic physical principles governing this state of soft matter. It treats wet granulates as an instance of a ternary system, consisting of the grains, a primary, and a secondary fluid. After addressing wetting phenomena in general and outlining the basic facts on dry granular systems, a chapter on basic mechanisms and their effects is dedicated to every region of the ternary phase diagram. Effects of grain shape and roughness are considered as well. Rather than addressing engineering aspects such as existing books on this topic do, the book aims to provide a generalized framework suitable for those who want to understand these systems on a more fundamental basis. Readership: For the young and advanced researcher entering the field of wet granular matter.

Pore-scale dynamics of salt transport and distribution in drying porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shokri, Nima

2014-01-01

Understanding the physics of water evaporation from saline porous media is important in many natural and engineering applications such as durability of building materials and preservation of monuments, water quality, and mineral-fluid interactions. We applied synchrotron x-ray micro-tomography to investigate the pore-scale dynamics of dissolved salt distribution in a three dimensional drying saline porous media using a cylindrical plastic column (15 mm in height and 8 mm in diameter) packed with sand particles saturated with CaI 2 solution (5% concentration by mass) with a spatial and temporal resolution of 12 μm and 30 min, respectively. Every time the drying sand column was set to be imaged, two different images were recorded using distinct synchrotron x-rays energies immediately above and below the K-edge value of Iodine. Taking the difference between pixel gray values enabled us to delineate the spatial and temporal distribution of CaI 2 concentration at pore scale. Results indicate that during early stages of evaporation, air preferentially invades large pores at the surface while finer pores remain saturated and connected to the wet zone at bottom via capillary-induced liquid flow acting as evaporating spots. Consequently, the salt concentration increases preferentially in finer pores where evaporation occurs. Higher salt concentration was observed close to the evaporating surface indicating a convection-driven process. The obtained salt profiles were used to evaluate the numerical solution of the convection-diffusion equation (CDE). Results show that the macro-scale CDE could capture the overall trend of the measured salt profiles but fail to produce the exact slope of the profiles. Our results shed new insight on the physics of salt transport and its complex dynamics in drying porous media and establish synchrotron x-ray tomography as an effective tool to investigate the dynamics of salt transport in porous media at high spatial and temporal resolution

The behaviour of free-flowing granular intruders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wyburn Edward

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Particle shape affects both the quasi-static and dynamic behaviour of granular media. There has been significant research devoted to the flowability of systems of irregularly shaped particles, as well as the flow of grains around fixed intruders, however the behaviour of free flowing intruders within granular flows remains comparatively unexplored. Here, the effect of the shape of these intruder particles is studied, looking at the kinematic behaviour of the intruders and in particular their tendency of orientation. Experiments are carried out within the Stadium Shear Device, which is a novel apparatus able to continuously apply simple shear conditions to two-dimensional grain analogues. It is found that the intruder shows different behaviour to that of the bulk flow, and that this behaviour is strongly shape dependent. These insights could lead to the development of admixtures that alter the flowability of granular materials.

A hydrodynamic model for granular material flows including segregation effects

Science.gov (United States)

Gilberg, Dominik; Klar, Axel; Steiner, Konrad

2017-06-01

The simulation of granular flows including segregation effects in large industrial processes using particle methods is accurate, but very time-consuming. To overcome the long computation times a macroscopic model is a natural choice. Therefore, we couple a mixture theory based segregation model to a hydrodynamic model of Navier-Stokes-type, describing the flow behavior of the granular material. The granular flow model is a hybrid model derived from kinetic theory and a soil mechanical approach to cover the regime of fast dilute flow, as well as slow dense flow, where the density of the granular material is close to the maximum packing density. Originally, the segregation model has been formulated by Thornton and Gray for idealized avalanches. It is modified and adapted to be in the preferred form for the coupling. In the final coupled model the segregation process depends on the local state of the granular system. On the other hand, the granular system changes as differently mixed regions of the granular material differ i.e. in the packing density. For the modeling process the focus lies on dry granular material flows of two particle types differing only in size but can be easily extended to arbitrary granular mixtures of different particle size and density. To solve the coupled system a finite volume approach is used. To test the model the rotational mixing of small and large particles in a tumbler is simulated.

Controlling wave propagation through nonlinear engineered granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Leonard, Andrea

We study the fundamental dynamic behavior of a special class of ordered granular systems in order to design new, structured materials with unique physical properties. The dynamic properties of granular systems are dictated by the nonlinear, Hertzian, potential in compression and zero tensile strength resulting from the discrete material structure. Engineering the underlying particle arrangement of granular systems allows for unique dynamic properties, not observed in natural, disordered granular media. While extensive studies on 1D granular crystals have suggested their usefulness for a variety of engineering applications, considerably less attention has been given to higher-dimensional systems. The extension of these studies in higher dimensions could enable the discovery of richer physical phenomena not possible in 1D, such as spatial redirection and anisotropic energy trapping. We present experiments, numerical simulation (based on a discrete particle model), and in some cases theoretical predictions for several engineered granular systems, studying the effects of particle arrangement on the highly nonlinear transient wave propagation to develop means for controlling the wave propagation pathways. The first component of this thesis studies the stress wave propagation resulting from a localized impulsive loading for three different 2D particle lattice structures: square, centered square, and hexagonal granular crystals. By varying the lattice structure, we observe a wide range of properties for the propagating stress waves: quasi-1D solitary wave propagation, fully 2D wave propagation with tunable wave front shapes, and 2D pulsed wave propagation. Additionally the effects of weak disorder, inevitably present in real granular systems, are investigated. The second half of this thesis studies the solitary wave propagation through 2D and 3D ordered networks of granular chains, reducing the effective density compared to granular crystals by selectively placing wave

Bubbling in vibrated granular films.

Science.gov (United States)

Zamankhan, Piroz

2011-02-01

With the help of experiments, computer simulations, and a theoretical investigation, a general model is developed of the flow dynamics of dense granular media immersed in air in an intermediate regime where both collisional and frictional interactions may affect the flow behavior. The model is tested using the example of a system in which bubbles and solid structures are produced in granular films shaken vertically. Both experiments and large-scale, three-dimensional simulations of this system are performed. The experimental results are compared with the results of the simulation to verify the validity of the model. The data indicate evidence of formation of bubbles when peak acceleration relative to gravity exceeds a critical value Γ(b). The air-grain interfaces of bubblelike structures are found to exhibit fractal structure with dimension D=1.7±0.05.

Role of contact couples and couple stress in the behaviour of granular media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dedecker, F.; Dubujet, P.; Cambou, B.

1998-01-01

This paper analyses the interest of taking into account contact couples in the granular material description as well as considering the inadequacy of the micropolar description. The study is made on two types of samples: one which takes into account contact couples, and the other which does not. The response of these two media, which are submitted to a biaxial test, is analysed from both the micromechanic and macroscopic viewpoints. A numerical study which is performed on these two samples shows the influence of the presence of couples on the local static variables as well as on the macroscopic behaviour. A statistical homogenization approach is analysed to simulate the effects of couples. Due to the presence of an internal variable, a numerical study proves that this approach is relevant. This internal variable allows the taking into consideration of the influence of contact couples. A first step in the description of couples versus contact orientation is made by the introduction of the standard deviation. Finally, the inadequacy of the micropolar description which takes into account micropolar stresses is pointed out. (orig.)

Effect of Wetting and Contamination of Granular Beds During Sphere Impact

KAUST Repository

Kouraytem, Nadia

2013-03-01

This thesis presents results from an experimental study of the impact of dense solid spheres onto granular beds. The overall aim is to further our understanding of the dynamical response of granular materials to impact. In order to do this, we will study both the initial penetration stages and peak acceleration exerted on the sphere by using high-speed imaging. Another critical part is to measure the penetration depth of the sphere and calculate the corresponding depth-averaged stopping force. Both of these main focal points will be assessed for not only dry, but wet and “contaminated” grains, whereby the granular bed will be comprised of two distinct size ranges of base grains. In doing so, we aim to broadly determine whether contaminated grains or wet grains are more effective at increasing the tensile strength of granular materials.

Real-time magnetic resonance imaging of highly dynamic granular phenomena

Science.gov (United States)

Penn, Alexander; Pruessmann, Klaas P.; Müller, Christoph

Probing non-intrusively the interior of three-dimensional granular systems is a challenging task for which a number of imaging techniques have been applied including positron emission particle tracking, X-ray tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A particular advantage of MRI is its versatility allowing quantitative velocimetry through phase contrast encoding and tagging, arbitrary slice orientations and the flexibility to trade spatial for temporal resolution and vice versa during image reconstruction. However, previous attempts to image granular systems using MRI were often limited to (pseudo-) steady state systems due to the poor temporal resolution of conventional imaging methodology. Here we present an experimental approach that overcomes previous limitations in temporal resolution by implementing a variety of methodological advances, viz. parallel data acquisition through tailored multiple receiver coils, fast gradient readouts for time-efficient data sampling and engineered granular materials that contain signal sources of high proton density. Achieving a spatial and temporal resolution of, respectively, 2 mm x 2 mm and 50 ms, we were able to image highly dynamic phenomena in granular media such as bubble coalescence and granular compaction waves.

Gas-solute dispersivity ratio in granular porous media as related to particle size distribution and particle shape

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pugliese, Lorenzo; Poulsen, Tjalfe; Straface, Salvatore

2013-01-01

Measurements of solute dispersion in porous media is generally much more time consuming than gas dispersion measurements performed under equivalent conditions. Significant time savings may therefore, be achieved if solute dispersion coefficients can be estimated based on measured gas dispersion...... data. This paper evaluates the possibility for estimating solute dispersion based on gas dispersion measurements. Breakthrough measurements were carried out at different fluid velocities (covering the same range in Reynolds number), using O2 and NaCl as gas and solute tracers, respectively. Three...... different, granular porous materials were used: (1) crushed granite (very angular particles), (2) gravel (particles of intermediate roundness) and (3) Leca® (almost spherical particles). For each material, 21 different particle size fractions were used. Gas and solute dispersion coefficients were determined...

Granular filtration for airborne particles : correlation between experiments and models

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Golshahi, L.; Tan, Z. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Schulich School of Engineering, Mechanical and Manufacturing Dept.; Abedi, J. [Calgary Univ., AB (Canada). Schulich School of Engineering, Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Dept.

2009-10-15

A new design for a packed bed granular filter was presented. The cylindrical packed bed was designed to filter particles in the range of approximately 10 nm to 15 {mu}m in diameter in different kinetic conditions and configurations. The aim of the study was to develop a precise empirical model to predict the filtration efficiency of the packed beds. A collision-type atomizer was used to generate polydisperse sodium chloride aerosol particles. The effect of flow rates was studied using a thermal mass flow meter. A regression analysis technique was used to determine the correlation between single granule and total packed bed efficiency for the entire granular filter. The experimental data were then compared with results obtained from the theoretical analysis. The least square method was used to correlate experimental data and to develop generalized equations for single granule efficiency. The study showed that the granular filter media has a high filtration efficiency for both micron and submicron particles. It was concluded that the effect of media thickness was more significant at higher flow rates than at lower flow rates. 10 refs., 3 figs.

A numerical study of granular dam-break flow

Science.gov (United States)

Pophet, N.; Rébillout, L.; Ozeren, Y.; Altinakar, M.

2017-12-01

Accurate prediction of granular flow behavior is essential to optimize mitigation measures for hazardous natural granular flows such as landslides, debris flows and tailings-dam break flows. So far, most successful models for these types of flows focus on either pure granular flows or flows of saturated grain-fluid mixtures by employing a constant friction model or more complex rheological models. These saturated models often produce non-physical result when they are applied to simulate flows of partially saturated mixtures. Therefore, more advanced models are needed. A numerical model was developed for granular flow employing a constant friction and μ(I) rheology (Jop et al., J. Fluid Mech. 2005) coupled with a groundwater flow model for seepage flow. The granular flow is simulated by solving a mixture model using Finite Volume Method (FVM). The Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) technique is used to capture the free surface motion. The constant friction and μ(I) rheological models are incorporated in the mixture model. The seepage flow is modeled by solving Richards equation. A framework is developed to couple these two solvers in OpenFOAM. The model was validated and tested by reproducing laboratory experiments of partially and fully channelized dam-break flows of dry and initially saturated granular material. To obtain appropriate parameters for rheological models, a series of simulations with different sets of rheological parameters is performed. The simulation results obtained from constant friction and μ(I) rheological models are compared with laboratory experiments for granular free surface interface, front position and velocity field during the flows. The numerical predictions indicate that the proposed model is promising in predicting dynamics of the flow and deposition process. The proposed model may provide more reliable insight than the previous assumed saturated mixture model, when saturated and partially saturated portions of granular mixture co-exist.

Collapse of tall granular columns in fluid

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Krishna; Soga, Kenichi; Delenne, Jean-Yves

2017-06-01

Avalanches, landslides, and debris flows are geophysical hazards, which involve rapid mass movement of granular solids, water, and air as a multi-phase system. In order to describe the mechanism of immersed granular flows, it is important to consider both the dynamics of the solid phase and the role of the ambient fluid. In the present study, the collapse of a granular column in fluid is studied using 2D LBM - DEM. The flow kinematics are compared with the dry and buoyant granular collapse to understand the influence of hydrodynamic forces and lubrication on the run-out. In the case of tall columns, the amount of material destabilised above the failure plane is larger than that of short columns. Therefore, the surface area of the mobilised mass that interacts with the surrounding fluid in tall columns is significantly higher than the short columns. This increase in the area of soil - fluid interaction results in an increase in the formation of turbulent vortices thereby altering the deposit morphology. It is observed that the vortices result in the formation of heaps that significantly affects the distribution of mass in the flow. In order to understand the behaviour of tall columns, the run-out behaviour of a dense granular column with an initial aspect ratio of 6 is studied. The collapse behaviour is analysed for different slope angles: 0°, 2.5°, 5° and 7.5°.

Spray Drying Processing: granules production and drying kinetics of droplets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mondragon, R.; Julia, J. E.; Barba, A.; Jarque, J. C.

2013-01-01

Spray drying is a unit operation very common in many industrial processes. For each particular application, the resulting granulated material must possess determined properties that depend on the conditions in which the spray drying processing has been carried out, and whose dependence must be known in order to optimize the quality of the material obtained. The large number of variables that influence on the processes of matter and energy transfer and on the formation of granular material has required a detailed analysis of the drying process. Over the years there have been many studies on the spray drying processing of all kind of materials and the influence of process variables on the drying kinetics of the granulated material properties obtained. This article lists the most important works published for both the spray drying processing and the drying of individual droplets, as well as studies aimed at modeling the drying kinetics of drops. (Author)

Numerical investigations on flow dynamics of prismatic granular materials using the discrete element method

Science.gov (United States)

Hancock, W.; Weatherley, D.; Wruck, B.; Chitombo, G. P.

2012-04-01

The flow dynamics of granular materials is of broad interest in both the geosciences (e.g. landslides, fault zone evolution, and brecchia pipe formation) and many engineering disciplines (e.g chemical engineering, food sciences, pharmaceuticals and materials science). At the interface between natural and human-induced granular media flow, current underground mass-mining methods are trending towards the induced failure and subsequent gravitational flow of large volumes of broken rock, a method known as cave mining. Cave mining relies upon the undercutting of a large ore body, inducement of fragmentation of the rock and subsequent extraction of ore from below, via hopper-like outlets. Design of such mines currently relies upon a simplified kinematic theory of granular flow in hoppers, known as the ellipsoid theory of mass movement. This theory assumes that the zone of moving material grows as an ellipsoid above the outlet of the silo. The boundary of the movement zone is a shear band and internal to the movement zone, the granular material is assumed to have a uniformly high bulk porosity compared with surrounding stagnant regions. There is however, increasing anecdotal evidence and field measurements suggesting this theory fails to capture the full complexity of granular material flow within cave mines. Given the practical challenges obstructing direct measurement of movement both in laboratory experiments and in-situ, the Discrete Element Method (DEM [1]) is a popular alternative to investigate granular media flow. Small-scale DEM studies (c.f. [3] and references therein) have confirmed that movement within DEM silo flow models matches that predicted by ellipsoid theory, at least for mono-disperse granular material freely outflowing at a constant rate. A major draw-back of these small-scale DEM studies is that the initial bulk porosity of the simulated granular material is significantly higher than that of broken, prismatic rock. In this investigation, more

Wave propagation of spectral energy content in a granular chain

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shrivastava, Rohit Kumar; Luding, Stefan

2017-01-01

A mechanical wave is propagation of vibration with transfer of energy and momentum. Understanding the spectral energy characteristics of a propagating wave through disordered granular media can assist in understanding the overall properties of wave propagation through inhomogeneous materials like

Development of mixed microbial granular biofilms for denitrification of concentrated wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Krishna Mohan, T.V.; Nancharaiah, Y.V.; Venugopalan, V.P.; Narasimhan, S.V.; Satyasai, P.M.

2010-01-01

Nitrate containing wastes are generated at various stages of the nuclear fuel cycle; fuel fabrication and reprocessing. A treatment process for removing nitrate from such concentrated nitrate bearing effluents is needed. Among other available options, biological denitrification is an economical and technically feasible method for nitrate removal. Granular biofilm based sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) may allow designing a compact and high rate processes suitable for the treatment of concentrated effluents. Hence, experiments were carried out in laboratory scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) to develop granular biofilms (composed of mixed microbes) for removing nitrate from the concentrated nitrate containing-media. Microbial granular biofilms, capable of consuming nitrate up to 2710 mg/l nitrate-N, were developed under anaerobic conditions in a 6-litre volume sequencing batch reactor (SBR). The SBR was inoculated with activated sludge flocs and operated with 24-h cycle and 50% volumetric exchange ratio. Synthetic media containing acetate as the energy source and electron donor, at carbon to nitrogen molar ratio of 2:1 and 3:1 was fed into the SBRs. Nitrate-N concentration in the SBR was increased in a step-wise manner starting from 677 to 2710 mg/l (1355 to 5420 mg/l in the feed). Complete removal of influent nitrate occurred within the first few hours of SBR cycle period. Effluent nitrate and nitrite levels (∼3 mg/l nitrate-N or nitrite-N) at the end of SBR cycle period (24 h) were found to be below the discharge limits. Under these conditions biomass predominantly consisted of granular biofilms. Results show the potential of granular biofilm based SBR for converting nitrate to nitrogen gas from concentrated nitrate bearing industrial effluents. (author)

Capturing gas in soft granular media

Science.gov (United States)

MacMinn, Chris; Lee, Jeremy; Xu, Feng; Lee, Sungyon

2017-11-01

Bubble migration through soft granular materials involves a strong coupling between the bubble dynamics and the deformation of the material. This process is relevant to a variety of natural and industrial systems, from fluidized-bed reactors to the migration and venting of biogenic gas in sediments. Here, we study this process experimentally by injecting air into a quasi-2D, liquid-saturated packing of soft particles and measuring the morphology of the bubbles as they invade and then rise due to buoyancy. By systematically varying the confining stress, we show that the competition between buoyancy, capillarity, and elasticity leads to complex bubble-migration dynamics that transition from fluidization to pathway opening to pore invasion, with a strong and surprising impact on the amount of air trapped in the system. The authors are grateful for support from the Royal Society (IE150885), the John Fell Oxford University Press Research Fund, and the Maurice Lubbock Memorial Fund.

Mechanical and Structural Behavior of Granular Material Packed Beds for Space Life Support System Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Malla, Ramesh B.; Anandakumar, Ganesh

2005-01-01

Long-term human mission to space, such as living in International Space Station (ISS), Lunar, and Martian bases, and travel to Mars, must m ake use of Advanced Life Support Systems (ALSS) to generate and recycle critical life supporting elements like oxygen and water. Oxygen Gen eration Assembly (OGA) and Water Processor Assembly (WPA), critical c omponents of ALSS, make use of series of granular material packed beds for generation and recycling of oxygen and water. Several granular m aterials can be used for generation, recycling, processing and recovery of oxygen and water. For example, they may include soft bed media, e.g. ion exchange resins for oxygen generation assembly and hard bed media such as, activated alumina, magchem (Magnesium oxide) and activa ted carbon to remove organic species like ethanol, methanol, and urea from wastewater in Water recovery/processing assembly. These beds are generally packed using a plate-spring mechanism to provide sufficien t compaction to the bed media throughout the course of operation. This paper presents results from an experimental study of a full-scale, 3 8.1 cm (15 inches) long and 3.7 cm (1.44 inches) diameter. activated alumina bed enclosed in a cylinder determining its force-displacement behavior, friction mobilizing force, and axial normal stress distribu tion under various axially applied loads and at different levels of packing. It is observed that force-displacement behavior is non-linear for low compaction level and becomes linear with increase in compaction of the bed media. Axial normal stress distribution along the length of the bed media decreased non-linearly with increase in depth from the loading end of the granular media. This paper also presents experimental results on the amount of particulates generated corresponding to various compaction levels. Particulates generated from each of the tests were measured using standard US sieves. It was found that the p articulates and the overall displacement of

Relationship between electrical conductivity anisotropy and fabric anisotropy in granular materials during drained triaxial compressive tests: a numerical approach

Science.gov (United States)

Niu, Qifei; Revil, André; Li, Zhaofeng; Wang, Yu-Hsing

2017-07-01

The anisotropy of granular media and its evolution during shearing are important aspects required in developing physics-based constitutive models in Earth sciences. The development of relationships between geoelectrical properties and the deformation of porous media has applications to the monitoring of faulting and landslides. However, such relationships are still poorly understood. In this study, we first investigate the definition of the electrical conductivity anisotropy tensor of granular materials in presence of surface conductivity of the grains. Fabric anisotropy is related to the components of the fabric tensor. We define an electrical anisotropy factor based on the Archie's exponent second-order symmetric tensor m of granular materials. We use numerical simulations to confirm a relationship between the evolution of electrical and fabric anisotropy factors during shearing. To realize the simulations, we build a virtual laboratory in which we can easily perform synthetic experiments. We first simulate drained compressive triaxial tests of loose and dense granular materials (porosity 0.45 and 0.38, respectively) using the discrete element method. Then, the electrical conductivity tensor of a set of deformed synthetic samples is computed using the finite-difference method. The numerical results show that shear strains are responsible for a measurable anisotropy in the bulk conductivity of granular media. The observed electrical anisotropy response, during shearing, is distinct for dense and loose synthetic samples. Electrical and fabric anisotropy factors exhibit however a unique linear correlation, regardless of the shear strain and the initial state (porosity) of the synthetic samples. The practical implication of this finding confirms the usefulness of the electrical conductivity method in studying the fabric tensor of granular media. This result opens the door in using time-lapse electrical resistivity to study non-intrusively the evolution of anisotropy

Going Public on Social Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Greg Elmer

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This brief essay questions the disconnect between the financial goals of social media properties and the concerns of privacy advocates and other new media critics. It is argued that critics of social media often fail to recognize the financial imperative of social media companies, one that requires users to divulge and publicize ever more granular aspects of their daily lives, thoughts, and feelings.

Performance evaluation of ALCAN-AASF50-ferric coated activated alumina and granular ferric hydroxide (GFH) for arsenic removal in the presence of competitive ions in an active well :Kirtland field trial - initial studies.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Neidel, Linnah L.; Krumhansl, James Lee; Siegel, Malcolm Dean; Khandaker, Nadim Reza

2006-01-01

This report documents a field trial program carried out at Well No.15 located at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, to evaluate the performance of two relatively new arsenic removal media, ALCAN-AASF50 (ferric coated activated alumina) and granular ferric hydroxide (US Filter-GFH). The field trial program showed that both media were able to remove arsenate and meet the new total arsenic maximum contaminant level (MCL) in drinking water of 10 {micro}g/L. The arsenate removal capacity was defined at a breakthrough effluent concentration of 5 {micro}g/L arsenic (50% of the arsenic MCL of 10 {micro}g/L). At an influent pH of 8.1 {+-} 0.4, the arsenate removal capacity of AASF50 was 33.5 mg As(V)/L of dry media (29.9 {micro}g As(V)/g of media on a dry basis). At an influent pH of 7.2 {+-} 0.3, the arsenate removal capacity of GFH was 155 mg As(V)/L of wet media (286 {micro}g As(V)/g of media on a dry basis). Silicate, fluoride, and bicarbonate ions are removed by ALCAN AASF50. Chloride, nitrate, and sulfate ions were not removed by AASF50. The GFH media also removed silicate and bicarbonate ions; however, it did not remove fluoride, chloride, nitrate, and sulfate ions. Differences in the media performance partly reflect the variations in the feed-water pH between the 2 tests. Both the exhausted AASF50 and GFH media passed the Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) test with respect to arsenic and therefore could be disposed as nonhazardous waste.

Linear and nonlinear Biot waves in a noncohesive granular medium slab: transfer function, self-action, second harmonic generation.

Science.gov (United States)

Legland, J-B; Tournat, V; Dazel, O; Novak, A; Gusev, V

2012-06-01

Experimental results are reported on second harmonic generation and self-action in a noncohesive granular medium supporting wave energy propagation both in the solid frame and in the saturating fluid. The acoustic transfer function of the probed granular slab can be separated into two main frequency regions: a low frequency region where the wave propagation is controlled by the solid skeleton elastic properties, and a higher frequency region where the behavior is dominantly due to the air saturating the beads. Experimental results agree well with a recently developed nonlinear Biot wave model applied to granular media. The linear transfer function, second harmonic generation, and self-action effect are studied as a function of bead diameter, compaction step, excitation amplitude, and frequency. This parametric study allows one to isolate different propagation regimes involving a range of described and interpreted linear and nonlinear processes that are encountered in granular media experiments. In particular, a theoretical interpretation is proposed for the observed strong self-action effect.

Production of amorphous starch powders by solution spray drying

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Niazi, Muhammad B. K.; Broekhuis, Antonius A.

2012-01-01

The spray drying of starch/maltodextrin formulations was evaluated as a potential technology for the manufacturing of amorphous thermoplastic starches. Mixtures of starches with high to low amylose (Am)amylopectin (Ap) ratios were spray-dried from water-based solutions and granular dispersions. The

Impact induced splash and spill in a quasi-confided granular medium

Science.gov (United States)

Ogale, S. B.

2005-03-01

Dissipation of the energy of impact in a granular medium and its effects has been a subject of considerable scientific for quite some time. In this work we have explored and analyzed the splash and spill effects caused by the impact of a ball dropped from a height into a granular medium in a open container. Three different granular media, namely rice, mustard seeds, and cream of wheat were used. The amount of spilled-over granular matter was measured as a function of the ball-drop height. Digital pictures of the splash process were also recorded. The quantity of spilled granular matter varies linearly with the impact energy. However additional step like structures are also noted. Specifically, a distinct and large jump is seen in the spilled quantity at a specific impact energy in the case of mustard seeds, which also exhibit obvious charging effects and repulsion. Although the parameters such as mass per grain and packing density for the case of mustard seeds are intermediate between those for rice and cream of wheat, the spill quantity for comparable impact energy is considerably higher. These data will be presented and discussed.

Critical state flow rules for CFD simulations of wet granular flows

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schwarze, R.; Gladkyy, A.; Luding, Stefan; E. Onate M. Bischoff, E. Ramm; P. Wriggers,

2013-01-01

First rheological investigation results of weakly wet granular media are presented. The materials have been examined experimentally and numerically in well- defined shear configurations in steady state, in the intermediate flow regime. For the experiments, a Searl-type ring shear cell with rotating

Bonding Strength Effects in Hydro-Mechanical Coupling Transport in Granular Porous Media by Pore-Scale Modeling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhiqiang Chen

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The hydro-mechanical coupling transport process of sand production is numerically investigated with special attention paid to the bonding effect between sand grains. By coupling the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM and the discrete element method (DEM, we are able to capture particles movements and fluid flows simultaneously. In order to account for the bonding effects on sand production, a contact bond model is introduced into the LBM-DEM framework. Our simulations first examine the experimental observation of “initial sand production is evoked by localized failure” and then show that the bonding or cement plays an important role in sand production. Lower bonding strength will lead to more sand production than higher bonding strength. It is also found that the influence of flow rate on sand production depends on the bonding strength in cemented granular media, and for low bonding strength sample, the higher the flow rate is, the more severe the erosion found in localized failure zone becomes.

Influence of granulometry in the Hurst exponent of air liquid interfaces formed during capillary rising in a granular media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gontijo Guilherme L.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We report results concerning the fractal dimension of a air/fluid interface formed during the capillary rising of a fluid into a dense granular media. The system consists in a modified Hele-Shaw cell filled with grains at different granulometries and confined in a narrow gap between the glass plates. The system is then placed onto a water reservoir, and the liquid penetrates the medium due to capillary forces. We measure the Hurst exponent of the liquid/air interface with help of image processing, and follow the temporal evolution of the profiles. We observe that the Hurst exponent can be related with the granulometry, but the range of values are odd to the predicted values from models or theory.

The response of dense dry granular material to the shear reversal

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jie; Ren, Jie; Farhadi, Somayeh; Behringer, Robert

2008-11-01

We have performed two dimensional granular experiments under pure shear using bidisperse photo-elastic disks. Starting from a stress free state, a square box filled with granular particles is subject to shear. The forward shears involved various number of steps, leading to maximum strains between 0.1 and 0.3. The area is kept constant during the shear. The network of force chains gradually built up as the strain increased, leading to increased pressure and shear stress. Reverse shear was then applied to the system. Depending on the initial packing fraction and the strain at which the shear is reversed, the force chain network built prior to the shear reversal may be destroyed completely or partially destroyed. Following the force chain weakening, when the reserve shear is continuously applied to the system, there is a force chain strengthening. Following each change of the system, contact forces of individual disks were measured by applying an inverse algorithm. We also kept track of the displacement and angle of rotation of every particle from frame to frame. We present the results for the structure failure and reconstruction during shear reversals. We also present data for stresses, contact force distributions and other statistical measures.

Experimental investigation of the Rowe's dilatancy law on an atypical granular medium from a municipal solid waste incineration bottom ash

Science.gov (United States)

Becquart, Frédéric; Abriak, Nor Edine

2013-06-01

Municipal Solid Waste Incineration (MSWI) bottom ashes are irregular granular media because of their origin and are very heterogeneous with a large quantity of angular particles of different chemical species. MSWI bottom ash is a renewable granular resource alternative to the use of non-renewable standard granular materials. Beneficial use of these alternative granular materials mainly lies in road engineering. However, the studies about mechanical properties of such granular media still remain little developed, those being mainly based on empirical considerations. In this paper, a study of mechanical behaviour of a MSWI bottom ash under axisymmetric triaxial loadings conditions is presented. Samples are initially dense after Proctor compaction, are saturated and tested in drained conditions, under different effective confining pressures ranging from 100 to 600 kPa. The evolutions of volumetric strains show an initial contracting phase followed by a dilatancy phase, more pronounced when the confining pressure is low. The stresses ratios at the characteristic state and at the critical state appear in good agreement and with a null rate of volume variation. The angles of internal friction and dilatancy of the studied MSWI bottom ash are estimated and are similar to conventional granular materials used especially in road engineering. The dilatancy law of Rowe is well experimentally verified on this irregular recycled granular material.

Granular media in the context of small bodies

Science.gov (United States)

Tancredi, G.

2014-07-01

Granular materials of different particle sizes are present on the surface and the interior of several atmosphereless Solar System bodies. The presence of very fine particles on the surface of the Moon, the so-called regolith, was confirmed by the Apollo astronauts. From the polarimetric observations and phase angle curves, it is possible to indirectly infer the presence of fine particles on the surfaces of asteroids and planetary satellites. More recently, the visit of spacecraft to several asteroids and comets has provided us with close pictures of the surface, where particles of a wide size range from cm to hundreds of meters have been directly observed. The presence of even finer particles on the visited bodies can also be inferred from image analysis. Solar System bodies smaller than a few hundred km may have a variety of internal structures: monolithic single bodies, objects with internal fractures, rubble piles maintained as a single object by self-gravity, etc. After the visit of the small asteroid Itokawa, it has been speculated that ''some small asteroids appear to be clumps of gravel glued by a very weak gravity field'' (Asphaug 2007). We still do not know the internal structure of these rubble piles and the size distribution of the interior constituents, but these clumps could have several million meter-sized boulders inside. There are several pieces of evidence that many asteroids are agglomerates of small components, like: - Rotation periods for small asteroids - Tidal disruption of asteroids and comets when they enter the Roche's limit of a massive object - The existence of crater chains like the ones observed in Ganymede - Low density estimates (laboratory experiments on granular material trying to reproduce the conditions in space: vacuum and low gravity. We describe the experimental set-ups and some results of these experiments. Some open problems and future line of work in this field will be presented.

Experimental Study of the Composition and Structure of Granular Media in the Shear Bands Based on the HHC-Granular Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guang-jin Wang

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The researchers cannot control the composition and structure of coarse grained soil in the indoor experiment because the granular particles of different size have the characteristics of random distribution and no sorting. Therefore, on the basis of the laboratory tests with the coarse grained soil, the HHC-Granular model, which could simulate the no sorting and random distribution of different size particles in the coarse-grained soil, was developed by use of cellular automata method. Meanwhile, the triaxial numerical simulation experiments of coarse grained soil were finished with the different composition and structure soil, and the variation of shear strength was discussed. The results showed that the internal friction angle was likely to reduce with the increasing of gravel contents in the coarse-grained soil, but the mean internal friction angle significantly increased with the increment of gravel contents. It indicated that the gravel contents of shear bands were the major factor affecting the shear strength.

Measurements of granular flow dynamics with high speed digital images

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Jingeol [Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (United States)

1994-01-01

The flow of granular materials is common to many industrial processes. This dissertation suggests and validates image processing algorithms applied to high speed digital images to measure the dynamics (velocity, temperature and volume fraction) of dry granular solids flowing down an inclined chute under the action of gravity. Glass and acrylic particles have been used as granular solids in the experiment. One technique utilizes block matching for spatially averaged velocity measurements of the glass particles. This technique is compared with the velocity measurement using an optic probe which is a conventional granular flow velocity measurement device. The other technique for measuring the velocities of individual acrylic particles is developed with correspondence using a Hopfield network. This technique first locates the positions of particles with pattern recognition techniques, followed by a clustering technique, which produces point patterns. Also, several techniques are compared for particle recognition: synthetic discriminant function (SDF), minimum average correlation energy (MACE) filter, modified minimum average correlation energy (MMACE) filter and variance normalized correlation. The author proposes an MMACE filter which improves generalization of the MACE filter by adjusting the amount of averaged spectrum of training images in the spectrum whitening stages of the MACE filter. Variance normalized correlation is applied to measure the velocity and temperature of flowing glass particles down the inclined chute. The measurements are taken for the steady and wavy flow and qualitatively compared with a theoretical model of granular flow.

Jamming of three-dimensional prolate granular materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Desmond, K; Franklin, Scott V

2006-03-01

We have found that the ability of long thin rods to jam into a solidlike state in response to a local perturbation depends upon both the particle aspect ratio and the container size. The dynamic phase diagram in this parameter space reveals a broad transition region separating granular stick-slip and solidlike behavior. In this transition region the pile displays both solid and stick-slip behavior. We measure the force on a small object pulled through the pile, and find the fluctuation spectra to have power law tails with an exponent characteristic of the region. The exponent varies from beta=-2 in the stick-slip region to beta=-1 in the solid region. These values reflect the different origins--granular rearrangements vs dry friction--of the fluctuations. Finally, the packing fraction shows only a slight dependence on container size, but depends on aspect ratio in a manner predicted by mean-field theory and implies an aspect-ratio-independent contact number of =5.25 +/- 0.03.

STABILIZATION OF GRANULAR VOLCANIC ASH IN SANA'A AREA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SUBHI A. ALI

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper presents the findings of compaction and strength characteristics of a Granular Volcanic Ash from Sana'a city center, which was mixed with various percentages of two binders to form a stabilized material namely; fine soil and Portland cement. The study showed a significant improvement of the Volcanic Ash properties. The maximum dry density and California bearing ration (CBR were considerably increased by addition of stabilizers at different rates for different binder contents. Optimum fine soil content for the maximum dry density and CBR is determined. A relationship between the optimum moisture content and the binder combination content for different fine soil percentages was established.

Wave propagation of spectral energy content in a granular chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shrivastava Rohit Kumar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A mechanical wave is propagation of vibration with transfer of energy and momentum. Understanding the spectral energy characteristics of a propagating wave through disordered granular media can assist in understanding the overall properties of wave propagation through inhomogeneous materials like soil. The study of these properties is aimed at modeling wave propagation for oil, mineral or gas exploration (seismic prospecting or non-destructive testing of the internal structure of solids. The focus is on the total energy content of a pulse propagating through an idealized one-dimensional discrete particle system like a mass disordered granular chain, which allows understanding the energy attenuation due to disorder since it isolates the longitudinal P-wave from shear or rotational modes. It is observed from the signal that stronger disorder leads to faster attenuation of the signal. An ordered granular chain exhibits ballistic propagation of energy whereas, a disordered granular chain exhibits more diffusive like propagation, which eventually becomes localized at long time periods. For obtaining mean-field macroscopic/continuum properties, ensemble averaging has been used, however, such an ensemble averaged spectral energy response does not resolve multiple scattering, leading to loss of information, indicating the need for a different framework for micro-macro averaging.

Using a Time Granularity Table for Gradual Granular Data Aggregation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Iftikhar, Nadeem; Pedersen, Torben Bach

2010-01-01

solution for data reduction based on gradual granular data aggregation. With the gradual granular data aggregation mechanism, older data can be made coarse-grained while keeping the newest data fine-grained. For instance, when data is 3 months old aggregate to 1 minute level from 1 second level, when data...... and improve query performance, especially on resource-constrained systems with limited storage and query processing capabilities. A number of data reduction solutions have been developed, however an effective solution particularly based on gradual data reduction is missing. This paper presents an effective...... is 6 months old aggregate to 2 minutes level from 1 minute level and so on. The proposed solution introduces a time granularity based data structure, namely a relational time granularity table that enables long term storage of old data by maintaining it at different levels of granularity and effective...

Coupled granular/continuous medium for thermally stable perpendicular magnetic recording

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sonobe, Y.; Weller, D.; Ikeda, Y.; Takano, K.; Schabes, M.E.; Zeltzer, G.; Do, H.; Yen, B.K.; Best, M.E.

2001-01-01

We studied coupled granular/continuous (CGC) perpendicular media consisting of a continuous multilayer structure and a granular layer. The addition of Co/Pt multilayers decreased the nucleation field from 200 to -1800 Oe and increased the squareness from 0.9 to 1.0. The moment decay at room temperature was significantly reduced from -4.8% to -0.05% per decade. At elevated temperatures, strong exchange coupling between a granular layer and a continuous layer is needed for thermal stability. The exchange-coupled continuous layer reduces thermal demagnetization as it effectively increases the grain size, tightens the grain distribution, and prevents the reversal of individual grains. Magnetic Force Microscope image showed a larger magnetic cluster size for the CGC structure. Compared to the CoCr 18 Pt 12 medium, the CGC medium had 2.3 dB higher output. However, the noise for the CGC medium increased with the recording density, while the noise for the CoCr 18 Pt 12 medium remained constant from 4 to 15 kfc/mm. Further optimization and noise reduction are still required for future high density recording

Coupled granular/continuous medium for thermally stable perpendicular magnetic recording

Science.gov (United States)

Sonobe, Y.; Weller, D.; Ikeda, Y.; Takano, K.; Schabes, M. E.; Zeltzer, G.; Do, H.; Yen, B. K.; Best, M. E.

2001-10-01

We studied coupled granular/continuous (CGC) perpendicular media consisting of a continuous multilayer structure and a granular layer. The addition of Co/Pt multilayers decreased the nucleation field from 200 to -1800 Oe and increased the squareness from 0.9 to 1.0. The moment decay at room temperature was significantly reduced from -4.8% to -0.05% per decade. At elevated temperatures, strong exchange coupling between a granular layer and a continuous layer is needed for thermal stability. The exchange-coupled continuous layer reduces thermal demagnetization as it effectively increases the grain size, tightens the grain distribution, and prevents the reversal of individual grains. Magnetic Force Microscope image showed a larger magnetic cluster size for the CGC structure. Compared to the CoCr 18Pt 12 medium, the CGC medium had 2.3 dB higher output. However, the noise for the CGC medium increased with the recording density, while the noise for the CoCr 18Pt 12 medium remained constant from 4 to 15 kfc/mm. Further optimization and noise reduction are still required for future high density recording.

Developing a Magnetic Resonance Imaging measurement of the forces within 3D granular materials under external loads

Science.gov (United States)

Elrington, Stefan; Bertrand, Thibault; Frey, Merideth; Shattuck, Mark; O'Hern, Corey; Barrett, Sean

2014-03-01

Granular materials are comprised of an ensemble of discrete macroscopic grains that interact with each other via highly dissipative forces. These materials are ubiquitous in our everyday life ranging in scale from the granular media that forms the Earth's crust to that used in agricultural and pharmaceutical industries. Granular materials exhibit complex behaviors that are poorly understood and cannot be easily described by statistical mechanics. Under external loads individual grains are jammed into place by a network of force chains. These networks have been imaged in quasi two-dimensional and on the outer surface of three-dimensional granular materials. Our goal is to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to detect contact forces deep within three-dimensional granular materials, using hydrogen-1 relaxation times as a reporter for changes in local stress and strain. To this end, we use a novel pulse sequence to narrow the line width of hydrogen-1 in rubber. Here we present our progress to date, and prospects for future improvements.

Development of A Darcy-flow model applied to simulate the drying of shrinking media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Chemkhi

2008-09-01

Full Text Available A mathematical model is developed to describe the coupling between heat, mass, and momentum transfers and is applied to simulate the drying of saturated and shrinking media. This model is called "the Darcy-flow model", which is based on the fact that the liquid flow is induced by a pressure gradient. The main novelties of the model are that firstly no phenomenological law need be introduced by keeping solid mass conservation and solid volume conservation together and secondly we use the effective stresses notion strongly coupling mechanical behaviour with mass transport. The analysis is limited to the preheating and the constant rate drying periods because shrinkage occurs during these two periods for most materials. Our purpose is to simulate the drying process and to compare the results of the simulations and the experiments done on clay material to demonstrate the consistency of the model developed. One of the important conclusions is that is no correlation between moisture flow and moisture gradient.

Granular patterns

CERN Document Server

Aranson, Igor S

2009-01-01

This title presents a review of experiments and novel theoretical concepts needed to understand the mechanisms of pattern formation in granular materials. An effort is made to connect concepts and ideas developed in granular physics with new emergent fields, especially in biology, such as cytoskeleton dynamics.

Granular computing: perspectives and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Yao, JingTao; Vasilakos, Athanasios V; Pedrycz, Witold

2013-12-01

Granular computing, as a new and rapidly growing paradigm of information processing, has attracted many researchers and practitioners. Granular computing is an umbrella term to cover any theories, methodologies, techniques, and tools that make use of information granules in complex problem solving. The aim of this paper is to review foundations and schools of research and to elaborate on current developments in granular computing research. We first review some basic notions of granular computing. Classification and descriptions of various schools of research in granular computing are given. We also present and identify some research directions in granular computing.

Centrifuge modelling of granular flows

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera, Miguel Angel; Wu, Wei

2015-04-01

A common characteristic of mass flows like debris flows, rock avalanches and mudflows is that gravity is their main driving force. Gravity defines the intensity and duration of the main interactions between particles and their surrounding media (particle-particle, particle-fluid, fluid-fluid). At the same time, gravity delimits the occurrence of phase separation, inverse segregation, and mass consolidation, among other phenomena. Therefore, in the understanding of the flow physics it is important to account for the scaling of gravity in scaled models. In this research, a centrifuge model is developed to model free surface granular flows down an incline at controlled gravity conditions. Gravity is controlled by the action of an induced inertial acceleration field resulting from the rotation of the model in a geotechnical centrifuge. The characteristics of the induced inertial acceleration field during flow are discussed and validated via experimental data. Flow heights, velocity fields, basal pressure and impact forces are measured for a range of channel inclinations and gravity conditions. Preliminary results enlighten the flow characteristics at variable gravity conditions and open a discussion on the simulation of large scale processes at a laboratory scale. Further analysis on the flow physics brings valuable information for the validation of granular flows rheology.

The consequences of granulate heterogeneity towards breakage and attrition upon fluid-bed drying

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nieuwmeyer, Florentine; Maarschalk, Kees van der Voort; Vromans, Herman

High-shear granulated lactose granulates were dried in it fluid-bed dryer at various conditions. Granules were characterized by water content and size analysis. It is shown that the drying process is very dynamic in terms of growth and breakage phenomena. Granular size heterogeneity, composition and

Using Mechanical Energy as a Probe for the Detection and Imaging of Shallow Buried Inclusions in Dry Granular Beds

Science.gov (United States)

Sen, Surajit; Krishna Mohan, T. R.; Visco, Donald P.; Swaminathan, Saravanan; Sokolow, Adam; Avalos, Edgar; Nakagawa, Masami

Mechanical energy, such as sound waves and impulses, have been used to detect shallow buried objects for more than half a century. Yet, very little is understood about how mechanical energy propagates into one of the simplest kinds of soil, namely, a granular bed. Here we present an overview of the state of the art in our understanding of mechanical energy propagation in granular beds.

Discrete Element study of granular material - Bumpy wall interface behavior

Science.gov (United States)

El Cheikh, Khadija; Rémond, Sébastien; Pizette, Patrick; Vanhove, Yannick; Djelal, Chafika

2016-09-01

This paper presents a DEM study of a confined granular material sheared between two parallel bumpy walls. The granular material consists of packed dry spherical particles. The bumpiness is modeled by spheres of a given diameter glued on horizontal planes. Different bumpy surfaces are modeled by varying diameter or concentration of glued spheres. The material is sheared by moving the two bumpy walls at fixed velocity. During shear, the confining pressure applied on each bumpy wall is controlled. The effect of wall bumpiness on the effective friction coefficient and on the granular material behavior at the bumpy walls is reported for various shearing conditions. For given bumpiness and confining pressure that we have studied, it is found that the shear velocity does not affect the shear stress. However, the effective friction coefficient and the behavior of the granular material depend on the bumpiness. When the diameter of the glued spheres is larger than about the average grains diameter of the medium, the latter is uniformly sheared and the effective friction coefficient remains constant. For smaller diameters of the glued spheres, the effective friction coefficient increases with the diameter of glued spheres. The influence of glued spheres concentration is significant only for small glued spheres diameters, typically half of average particle diameter of the granular material. In this case, increasing the concentration of glued spheres leads to a decrease in effective friction coefficient and to shear localization at the interface. For different diameters and concentrations of glued spheres, we show that the effect of bumpiness on the effective friction coefficient can be characterized by the depth of interlocking.

Study on the runout of granular columns with SPH methods.

OpenAIRE

He, Xuzhen; Liang, Dongfang

2015-01-01

Landslides are catastrophic geophysical phenomena, which may cause heavy fatality and property losses. Hence, it is of vital importance to understand their mechanisms and evaluate their travel distance, so that appropriate measures can be taken to mitigate their risk. This paper reports on an application of the incompressible Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method to the simulation of the collapse of granular columns onto the planes of different slopes, which is similar to dry landslide...

The effect of carbon type on arsenic and trichloroethylene removal capabilities of iron (hydr)oxide nanoparticle-impregnated granulated activated carbons

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cooper, Anne Marie, E-mail: Anne.M.Cooper@asu.edu [Environmental Technology, College of Technology and Innovation. Arizona State University - Polytechnic Campus, 6075 South Williams Campus Loop West, Mesa, AZ 85212 (United States); Hristovski, Kiril D., E-mail: Kiril.Hristovski@asu.edu [Environmental Technology, College of Technology and Innovation, Arizona State University - Polytechnic Campus, 6073 South Backus Mall, Mesa, AZ 85212 (United States); Moeller, Teresia, E-mail: tmoller@solmetex.com [SolmeteX - Division of Layne Christiansen, 50 Bearfoot Road, Northborough, MA 01532 (United States); Westerhoff, Paul, E-mail: p.westerhoff@asu.edu [School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Box 5306, Tempe, AZ 85287-5306 (United States); Sylvester, Paul, E-mail: psylvester@solmetex.com [SolmeteX - Division of Layne Christiansen, 50 Bearfoot Road, Northborough, MA 01532 (United States)

2010-11-15

This study investigates the impact of the type of virgin granular activated carbon (GAC) media used to synthesize iron (hydr)oxide nanoparticle-impregnated granular activated carbon (Fe-GAC) on its properties and its ability to remove arsenate and organic trichloroethylene (TCE) from water. Two Fe-GAC media were synthesized via a permanganate/ferrous ion synthesis method using bituminous and lignite-based virgin GAC. Data obtained from an array of characterization techniques (pore size distribution, surface charge, etc.) in correlation with batch equilibrium tests, and continuous flow modeling suggested that GAC type and pore size distribution control the iron (nanoparticle) contents, Fe-GAC synthesis mechanisms, and contaminant removal performances. Pore surface diffusion model calculations predicted that lignite Fe-GAC could remove {approx}6.3 L g{sup -1} dry media and {approx}4 L g{sup -1} dry media of water contaminated with 30 {mu}g L{sup -1} TCE and arsenic, respectively. In contrast, the bituminous Fe-GAC could remove only {approx}0.2 L/g dry media for TCE and {approx}2.8 L/g dry media for As of the same contaminated water. The results show that arsenic removal capability is increased while TCE removal is decreased as a result of Fe nanoparticle impregnation. This tradeoff is related to several factors, of which changes in surface properties and pore size distributions appeared to be the most dominant.

The effect of carbon type on arsenic and trichloroethylene removal capabilities of iron (hydr)oxide nanoparticle-impregnated granulated activated carbons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cooper, Anne Marie; Hristovski, Kiril D.; Moeller, Teresia; Westerhoff, Paul; Sylvester, Paul

2010-01-01

This study investigates the impact of the type of virgin granular activated carbon (GAC) media used to synthesize iron (hydr)oxide nanoparticle-impregnated granular activated carbon (Fe-GAC) on its properties and its ability to remove arsenate and organic trichloroethylene (TCE) from water. Two Fe-GAC media were synthesized via a permanganate/ferrous ion synthesis method using bituminous and lignite-based virgin GAC. Data obtained from an array of characterization techniques (pore size distribution, surface charge, etc.) in correlation with batch equilibrium tests, and continuous flow modeling suggested that GAC type and pore size distribution control the iron (nanoparticle) contents, Fe-GAC synthesis mechanisms, and contaminant removal performances. Pore surface diffusion model calculations predicted that lignite Fe-GAC could remove ∼6.3 L g -1 dry media and ∼4 L g -1 dry media of water contaminated with 30 μg L -1 TCE and arsenic, respectively. In contrast, the bituminous Fe-GAC could remove only ∼0.2 L/g dry media for TCE and ∼2.8 L/g dry media for As of the same contaminated water. The results show that arsenic removal capability is increased while TCE removal is decreased as a result of Fe nanoparticle impregnation. This tradeoff is related to several factors, of which changes in surface properties and pore size distributions appeared to be the most dominant.

Transport and abatement of fluorescent silica nanoparticle (SiO_2 NP) in granular filtration: effect of porous media and ionic strength

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeng, Chao; Shadman, Farhang; Sierra-Alvarez, Reyes

2017-01-01

The extensive production and application of engineered silica nanoparticles (SiO_2 NPs) will inevitably lead to their release into the environment. Granular media filtration, a widely used process in water and wastewater treatment plants, has the potential for NP abatement. In this work, laboratory-scale column experiments were performed to study the transport and retention of SiO_2 NPs on three widely used porous materials, i.e., sand, anthracite, and granular activated carbon (GAC). Synthetic fluorescent core-shell SiO_2 NPs (83 nm) were used to facilitate NP detection. Sand showed very low capacity for SiO_2 filtration as this material had a surface with limited surface area and a high concentration of negative charge. Also, we found that the stability and transport of SiO_2 NP were strongly dependent on the ionic strength of the solution. Increasing ionic strength led to NP agglomeration and facilitated SiO_2 NP retention, while low ionic strength resulted in release of captured NPs from the sand bed. Compared to sand, anthracite and GAC showed higher affinity for SiO_2 NP capture. The superior capacity of GAC was primarily due to its porous structure and high surface area. A process model was developed to simulate NP capture in the packed bed columns and determine fundamental filtration parameters. This model provided an excellent fit to the experimental data. Taken together, the results obtained indicate that GAC is an interesting material for SiO_2 NP filtration.

Transport and abatement of fluorescent silica nanoparticle (SiO2 NP) in granular filtration: effect of porous media and ionic strength

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Chao; Shadman, Farhang; Sierra-Alvarez, Reyes

2017-03-01

The extensive production and application of engineered silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) will inevitably lead to their release into the environment. Granular media filtration, a widely used process in water and wastewater treatment plants, has the potential for NP abatement. In this work, laboratory-scale column experiments were performed to study the transport and retention of SiO2 NPs on three widely used porous materials, i.e., sand, anthracite, and granular activated carbon (GAC). Synthetic fluorescent core-shell SiO2 NPs (83 nm) were used to facilitate NP detection. Sand showed very low capacity for SiO2 filtration as this material had a surface with limited surface area and a high concentration of negative charge. Also, we found that the stability and transport of SiO2 NP were strongly dependent on the ionic strength of the solution. Increasing ionic strength led to NP agglomeration and facilitated SiO2 NP retention, while low ionic strength resulted in release of captured NPs from the sand bed. Compared to sand, anthracite and GAC showed higher affinity for SiO2 NP capture. The superior capacity of GAC was primarily due to its porous structure and high surface area. A process model was developed to simulate NP capture in the packed bed columns and determine fundamental filtration parameters. This model provided an excellent fit to the experimental data. Taken together, the results obtained indicate that GAC is an interesting material for SiO2 NP filtration.

Granular gas dynamics

CERN Document Server

Brilliantov, Nikolai

2003-01-01

While there is not yet any general theory for granular materials, significant progress has been achieved for dilute systems, also called granular gases. The contributions in this book address both the kinetic approach one using the Boltzmann equation for dissipative gases as well as the less established hydrodynamic description. The last part of the book is devoted to driven granular gases and their analogy with molecular fluids. Care has been taken so as to present the material in a pedagogical and self-contained way and this volume will thus be particularly useful to nonspecialists and newcomers to the field.

Bedrock erosion by sliding wear in channelized granular flow

Science.gov (United States)

Hung, C. Y.; Stark, C. P.; Capart, H.; Smith, B.; Maia, H. T.; Li, L.; Reitz, M. D.

2014-12-01

Boundary forces generated by debris flows can be powerful enough to erode bedrock and cause considerable damage to infrastructure during runout. Bedrock wear can be separated into impact and sliding wear processes. Here we focus on sliding wear. We have conducted experiments with a 40-cm-diameter grainflow-generating rotating drum designed to simulate dry channelized debris flows. To generate sliding erosion, we placed a 20-cm-diameter bedrock plate axially on the back wall of the drum. The rotating drum was half filled with 2.3-mm-diameter grains, which formed a thin grain-avalanching layer with peak flow speed and depth close to the drum axis. The whole experimental apparatus was placed on a 100g-ton geotechnical centrifuge and, in order to scale up the stress level, spun to a range of effective gravity levels. Rates and patterns of erosion of the bedrock plate were mapped after each experiment using 3d micro-photogrammetry. High-speed video and particle tracking were employed to measure granular flow dynamics. The resulting data for granular velocities and flow geometry were used to estimate impulse exchanges and forces on the bedrock plate. To address some of the complexities of granular flow under variable gravity levels, we developed a continuum model framed around a GDR MiDi rheology. This model allowed us to scale up boundary forcing while maintaining the same granular flow regime, and helped us to understand important aspects of the flow dynamics including e.g. fluxes of momentum and kinetic energy. In order to understand the detailed processes of boundary forcing, we performed numerical simulations with a new contact dynamics model. This model confirmed key aspects of our continuum model and provided information on second-order behavior such as fluctuations in the forces acting on the wall. By combining these measurements and theoretical analyses, we have developed and calibrated a constitutive model for sliding wear that is a threshold function of

Spreading of a granular droplet

Science.gov (United States)

Clement, Eric; Sanchez, Ivan; Raynaud, Franck; Lanuza, Jose; Andreotti, Bruno; Aranson, Igor

2008-03-01

The influence of controlled vibrations on the granular rheology is investigated in a specifically designed experiment in which a granular film spreads under the action of horizontal vibrations. A nonlinear diffusion equation is derived theoretically that describes the evolution of the deposit shape. A self-similar parabolic shape (the``granular droplet'') and a spreading dynamics are predicted that both agree quantitatively with the experimental results. The theoretical analysis is used to extract effective friction coefficients between the base and the granular layer under sustained and controlled vibrations. A shear thickening regime characteristic of dense granular flows is evidenced at low vibration energy, both for glass beads and natural sand. Conversely, shear thinning is observed at high agitation.

From continuum analytical description to discrete numerical modelling of localized fluidization in granular media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Puig i Montellà Eduard

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We present analytical and numerical results on localized fluidization within a granular layer subjected to a local injection of fluid. As the injection rate increases the three different regimes previously reported in the literature are recovered: homogeneous expansion of the bed, fluidized cavity in which fluidization starts developing above the injection area, and finally the chimney of fluidized grains when the fluidization zone reaches the free surface. The analytical approach is at the continuum scale, based on Darcy’s law and Therzaghi’s effective stress principle. It provides a good description of the phenomenon as long as the porosity of the granular assembly remains relatively homogeneous. The numerical approach is at the particle scale based on the coupled DEM-PFV method. It tackles the more heterogeneous situations which occur at larger injection rates. A direct link is evidenced between the occurrence of the different regimes of fluidization and the injection aperture. Finally, the merging of chimneys in case of two injection points is investigated.

Effective transport properties for the pyridine-granular activated carbon adsorption system

OpenAIRE

Baz-Rodríguez, S. A.; Ocampo-Pérez, R.; Ruelas-Leyva, J. P.; Aguilar-Madera, C. G.

2012-01-01

In this work, the kinetics of pyridine adsorption onto granular activated carbon was studied from the point of view of an up-scaling process by using the method of volume averaging. The pore and surface effective diffusivities were estimated by supposing simple microscale geometries (ordered media of cylinders and spheres) and those of images processed from SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy) micrographs. In addition, as a rough estimate, the point surface diffusivity is reported. The results ...

Dissipation consistent fabric tensor definition from DEM to continuum for granular media

Science.gov (United States)

Li, X. S.; Dafalias, Y. F.

2015-05-01

In elastoplastic soil models aimed at capturing the impact of fabric anisotropy, a necessary ingredient is a measure of anisotropic fabric in the form of an evolving tensor. While it is possible to formulate such a fabric tensor based on indirect phenomenological observations at the continuum level, it is more effective and insightful to have the tensor defined first based on direct particle level microstructural observations and subsequently deduce a corresponding continuum definition. A practical means able to provide such observations, at least in the context of fabric evolution mechanisms, is the discrete element method (DEM). Some DEM defined fabric tensors such as the one based on the statistics of interparticle contact normals have already gained widespread acceptance as a quantitative measure of fabric anisotropy among researchers of granular material behavior. On the other hand, a fabric tensor in continuum elastoplastic modeling has been treated as a tensor-valued internal variable whose evolution must be properly linked to physical dissipation. Accordingly, the adaptation of a DEM fabric tensor definition to a continuum constitutive modeling theory must be thermodynamically consistent in regards to dissipation mechanisms. The present paper addresses this issue in detail, brings up possible pitfalls if such consistency is violated and proposes remedies and guidelines for such adaptation within a recently developed Anisotropic Critical State Theory (ACST) for granular materials.

Compliant contact versus rigid contact: A comparison in the context of granular dynamics

Science.gov (United States)

Pazouki, Arman; Kwarta, Michał; Williams, Kyle; Likos, William; Serban, Radu; Jayakumar, Paramsothy; Negrut, Dan

2017-10-01

We summarize and numerically compare two approaches for modeling and simulating the dynamics of dry granular matter. The first one, the discrete-element method via penalty (DEM-P), is commonly used in the soft matter physics and geomechanics communities; it can be traced back to the work of Cundall and Strack [P. Cundall, Proc. Symp. ISRM, Nancy, France 1, 129 (1971); P. Cundall and O. Strack, Geotechnique 29, 47 (1979), 10.1680/geot.1979.29.1.47]. The second approach, the discrete-element method via complementarity (DEM-C), considers the grains perfectly rigid and enforces nonpenetration via complementarity conditions; it is commonly used in robotics and computer graphics applications and had two strong promoters in Moreau and Jean [J. J. Moreau, in Nonsmooth Mechanics and Applications, edited by J. J. Moreau and P. D. Panagiotopoulos (Springer, Berlin, 1988), pp. 1-82; J. J. Moreau and M. Jean, Proceedings of the Third Biennial Joint Conference on Engineering Systems and Analysis, Montpellier, France, 1996, pp. 201-208]. The DEM-P and DEM-C are manifestly unlike each other: They use different (i) approaches to model the frictional contact problem, (ii) sets of model parameters to capture the physics of interest, and (iii) classes of numerical methods to solve the differential equations that govern the dynamics of the granular material. Herein, we report numerical results for five experiments: shock wave propagation, cone penetration, direct shear, triaxial loading, and hopper flow, which we use to compare the DEM-P and DEM-C solutions. This exercise helps us reach two conclusions. First, both the DEM-P and DEM-C are predictive, i.e., they predict well the macroscale emergent behavior by capturing the dynamics at the microscale. Second, there are classes of problems for which one of the methods has an advantage. Unlike the DEM-P, the DEM-C cannot capture shock-wave propagation through granular media. However, the DEM-C is proficient at handling arbitrary grain

Water flow exchange characteristics in coarse granular filter media

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Rune Røjgaard; Pugliese, Lorenzo; Poulsen, Tjalfe

2013-01-01

Elution of inhibitory metabolites is a key parameter controlling the efficiency of air cleaning bio- and biotrickling filters. To the authors knowledge no studies have yet considered the relationship between specific surface area related elution velocity and physical media characteristics, which...... in this study are performed at a concurrent airflow of 0.3 m s−1, water irrigation rates of 1–21 cm h−1 in materials with particle diameters ranging from 2 to 14 mm to represent media and operation conditions relevant for low flow biotrickling filter design. Specific surface area related elution velocity...... distribution was closely related to the filter water content, water irrigation rate, media specific surface area and particle size distribution. A predictive model linking the specific surface area related elution velocity distribution to irrigation rate, specific surface area and particle size distribution...

A theoretical and numerical study of the flow of granular materials down an inclined plane. [Quarterly progress report, January--March 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rajagopal, K.R.

1995-09-01

The mechanics of the flowing granular materials such as coal, agricultural products, fertilizers, dry chemicals, metal ores, etc. have received a great deal of attention as it has relevance to several important technological problems. Despite wide interest and more than five decades of experimental and theoretical investigations, most aspects of the behavior of flowing granular materials are still not well understood. So Experiments have to be devised which quantify and describe the non-linear behavior of the granular materials, and theories developed which can explain the experimentally observed facts. Here we carry out a systematic numerical study of the flow of granular materials down an inclined plane using the models that stem from both the continuum theory approach and the kinetic theory approach. We also look at the existence of solutions, multiplicity and stability of solutions to the governing equations.

Type-2 fuzzy granular models

CERN Document Server

Sanchez, Mauricio A; Castro, Juan R

2017-01-01

In this book, a series of granular algorithms are proposed. A nature inspired granular algorithm based on Newtonian gravitational forces is proposed. A series of methods for the formation of higher-type information granules represented by Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Sets are also shown, via multiple approaches, such as Coefficient of Variation, principle of justifiable granularity, uncertainty-based information concept, and numerical evidence based. And a fuzzy granular application comparison is given as to demonstrate the differences in how uncertainty affects the performance of fuzzy information granules.

Granular-relational data mining how to mine relational data in the paradigm of granular computing ?

CERN Document Server

Hońko, Piotr

2017-01-01

This book provides two general granular computing approaches to mining relational data, the first of which uses abstract descriptions of relational objects to build their granular representation, while the second extends existing granular data mining solutions to a relational case. Both approaches make it possible to perform and improve popular data mining tasks such as classification, clustering, and association discovery. How can different relational data mining tasks best be unified? How can the construction process of relational patterns be simplified? How can richer knowledge from relational data be discovered? All these questions can be answered in the same way: by mining relational data in the paradigm of granular computing! This book will allow readers with previous experience in the field of relational data mining to discover the many benefits of its granular perspective. In turn, those readers familiar with the paradigm of granular computing will find valuable insights on its application to mining r...

High-Performance Modeling and Simulation of Anchoring in Granular Media for NEO Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Quadrelli, Marco B.; Jain, Abhinandan; Negrut, Dan; Mazhar, Hammad

2012-01-01

NASA is interested in designing a spacecraft capable of visiting a near-Earth object (NEO), performing experiments, and then returning safely. Certain periods of this mission would require the spacecraft to remain stationary relative to the NEO, in an environment characterized by very low gravity levels; such situations require an anchoring mechanism that is compact, easy to deploy, and upon mission completion, easy to remove. The design philosophy used in this task relies on the simulation capability of a high-performance multibody dynamics physics engine. On Earth, it is difficult to create low-gravity conditions, and testing in low-gravity environments, whether artificial or in space, can be costly and very difficult to achieve. Through simulation, the effect of gravity can be controlled with great accuracy, making it ideally suited to analyze the problem at hand. Using Chrono::Engine, a simulation pack age capable of utilizing massively parallel Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) hardware, several validation experiments were performed. Modeling of the regolith interaction has been carried out, after which the anchor penetration tests were performed and analyzed. The regolith was modeled by a granular medium composed of very large numbers of convex three-dimensional rigid bodies, subject to microgravity levels and interacting with each other with contact, friction, and cohesional forces. The multibody dynamics simulation approach used for simulating anchors penetrating a soil uses a differential variational inequality (DVI) methodology to solve the contact problem posed as a linear complementarity method (LCP). Implemented within a GPU processing environment, collision detection is greatly accelerated compared to traditional CPU (central processing unit)- based collision detection. Hence, systems of millions of particles interacting with complex dynamic systems can be efficiently analyzed, and design recommendations can be made in a much shorter time. The figure

Transport and abatement of fluorescent silica nanoparticle (SiO{sub 2} NP) in granular filtration: effect of porous media and ionic strength

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zeng, Chao, E-mail: chaozeng@email.arizona.edu; Shadman, Farhang; Sierra-Alvarez, Reyes [University of Arizona, Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering (United States)

2017-03-15

The extensive production and application of engineered silica nanoparticles (SiO{sub 2} NPs) will inevitably lead to their release into the environment. Granular media filtration, a widely used process in water and wastewater treatment plants, has the potential for NP abatement. In this work, laboratory-scale column experiments were performed to study the transport and retention of SiO{sub 2} NPs on three widely used porous materials, i.e., sand, anthracite, and granular activated carbon (GAC). Synthetic fluorescent core-shell SiO{sub 2} NPs (83 nm) were used to facilitate NP detection. Sand showed very low capacity for SiO{sub 2} filtration as this material had a surface with limited surface area and a high concentration of negative charge. Also, we found that the stability and transport of SiO{sub 2} NP were strongly dependent on the ionic strength of the solution. Increasing ionic strength led to NP agglomeration and facilitated SiO{sub 2} NP retention, while low ionic strength resulted in release of captured NPs from the sand bed. Compared to sand, anthracite and GAC showed higher affinity for SiO{sub 2} NP capture. The superior capacity of GAC was primarily due to its porous structure and high surface area. A process model was developed to simulate NP capture in the packed bed columns and determine fundamental filtration parameters. This model provided an excellent fit to the experimental data. Taken together, the results obtained indicate that GAC is an interesting material for SiO{sub 2} NP filtration.

The Use of Fresh Cogongrass as Transportation Media with Level Dry System for Broodstock of Crayfish on Various Old Time

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ferdinand Hukama Taqwa

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The research was to determine the effect of the use of fresh cogongrass as media packaging filler on survival rate of broodstock of crayfish that transported with level dry system for 24, 48, dan 72 hours which randomized completely design experiment. The research preparation were media preparation of pond water, preparation of filler material and preparation of experimental animal (3 days adaptation after arrived from producer and starvation for 24 hours. The major research were anestetion of broodstock of crayfish with direct sock of low temperature at 12oC for ±5 minutes, transportation experiment of broodstock with fresh cogongrass as material filler. The result showed that the use of fresh cogongrass on various old time of dry level system has a significantly different to time of recovery and survival rate of broodstock of crayfish after tranforted. The fastest time of recovery was 89.55 seconds for 24 hours transportation and significantly different with time of transportation for 48 hours and 72 hours. The survival rate after tranported the highest was 98.89% for 24 hours transportation and significantly different with time of transportation for 48 hours and 72 hours. This research showed that the use of fresh cogongrass as material packaging filler of dry level system was still effective until 48 hours.Keywords: afresh cogongrass, broodstock of crayfish, various old time transportation, level dry system

Particle filtration in consolidated granular systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schwartz, L.M.; Wilkinson, D.J.; Bolsterli, M.; Hammond, P.

1993-01-01

Grain-packing algorithms are used to model the mechanical trapping of dilute suspensions of particles by consolidated granular media. We study the distribution of filtrate particles, the formation of a damage zone (internal filter cake), and the transport properties of the host--filter-cake composite. At the early stages of filtration, our simulations suggest simple relationships between the structure of the internal filter cake and the characteristics of the underlying host matrix. These relationships are then used to describe the dynamics of the filtration process. Depending on the grain size and porosity of the host matrix, calculated filtration rates may either be greater than (spurt loss) or less than (due to internal clogging) those predicted by standard surface-filtration models

Okara: A Nutritionally Valuable By-product Able to Stabilize Lactobacillus plantarum during Freeze-drying, Spray-drying, and Storage

Science.gov (United States)

Quintana, Gabriel; Gerbino, Esteban; Gómez-Zavaglia, Andrea

2017-01-01

Okara is a nutritionally valuable by-product produced in large quantities as result of soymilk elaboration. This work proposes its use as both culture and dehydration medium during freeze-drying, spray-drying, and storage of Lactobacillus plantarum CIDCA 83114. Whole and defatted okara were employed as culture media for L. plantarum CIDCA 83114. The growth kinetics were followed by plate counting and compared with those of bacteria grown in MRS broth (control). No significant differences in plate counting were observed in the three media. The fatty acid composition of bacteria grown in whole and defatted okara showed a noticeable increase in the unsaturated/saturated (U/S) fatty acid ratio, with regard to bacteria grown in MRS. This change was mainly due to the increase in polyunsaturated fatty acids, namely C18:2. For dehydration assays, cultures in the stationary phase were neutralized and freeze-dried (with or without the addition of 250 mM sucrose) or spray-dried. Bacteria were plate counted immediately after freeze-drying or spray-drying and during storage at 4°C for 90 days. Freeze-drying in whole okara conducted to the highest bacterial recovery. Regarding storage, spray-dried bacteria previously grown in whole and defatted okara showed higher plate counts than those grown in MRS. On the contrary, freeze-dried bacteria previously grown in all the three culture media were those with the lowest plate counts. The addition of sucrose to the dehydration media improved their recovery. The higher recovery of microorganisms grown in okara after freeze-drying and spray-drying processes and during storage was ascribed to both the presence of fiber and proteins in the dehydration media, and the increase in U/S fatty acids ratio in bacterial membranes. The obtained results support for the first time the use of okara as an innovative matrix to deliver L. plantarum. Considering that okara is an agro-waste obtained in large quantities, these results represent an

Mathematical models of granular matter

CERN Document Server

Mariano, Paolo; Giovine, Pasquale

2008-01-01

Granular matter displays a variety of peculiarities that distinguish it from other appearances studied in condensed matter physics and renders its overall mathematical modelling somewhat arduous. Prominent directions in the modelling granular flows are analyzed from various points of view. Foundational issues, numerical schemes and experimental results are discussed. The volume furnishes a rather complete overview of the current research trends in the mechanics of granular matter. Various chapters introduce the reader to different points of view and related techniques. New models describing granular bodies as complex bodies are presented. Results on the analysis of the inelastic Boltzmann equations are collected in different chapters. Gallavotti-Cohen symmetry is also discussed.

Correlations and the Ring-Kinetic Equation in Dense Sheared Granular Flows

Science.gov (United States)

Kumaran, V.

A formal way of deriving fluctuation-correlation relations in densesheared granular media, starting with the Enskog approximation for the collision integral in the Chapman-Enskog theory, is discussed. The correlation correction to the viscosity is obtained using the ring-kinetic equation, in terms of the correlations in the hydrodynamic modes of the linearised Enskog equation. It is shown that the Green-Kubo formula for the shear viscosity emerges from the two-body correlation function obtained from the ring-kinetic equation.

A Two-Phase Solid/Fluid Model for Dense Granular Flows Including Dilatancy Effects

Science.gov (United States)

Mangeney, Anne; Bouchut, Francois; Fernandez-Nieto, Enrique; Narbona-Reina, Gladys

2015-04-01

We propose a thin layer depth-averaged two-phase model to describe solid-fluid mixtures such as debris flows. It describes the velocity of the two phases, the compression/dilatation of the granular media and its interaction with the pore fluid pressure, that itself modifies the friction within the granular phase (Iverson et al., 2010). The model is derived from a 3D two-phase model proposed by Jackson (2000) based on the 4 equations of mass and momentum conservation within the two phases. This system has 5 unknowns: the solid and fluid velocities, the solid and fluid pressures and the solid volume fraction. As a result, an additional equation inside the mixture is necessary to close the system. Surprisingly, this issue is inadequately accounted for in the models that have been developed on the basis of Jackson's work (Bouchut et al., 2014). In particular, Pitman and Le replaced this closure simply by imposing an extra boundary condition at the surface of the flow. When making a shallow expansion, this condition can be considered as a closure condition. However, the corresponding model cannot account for a dissipative energy balance. We propose here an approach to correctly deal with the thermodynamics of Jackson's equations. We close the mixture equations by a weak compressibility relation involving a critical density, or equivalently a critical pressure. Moreover, we relax one boundary condition, making it possible for the fluid to escape the granular media when compression of the granular mass occurs. Furthermore, we introduce second order terms in the equations making it possible to describe the evolution of the pore fluid pressure in response to the compression/dilatation of the granular mass without prescribing an extra ad-hoc equation for the pore pressure. We prove that the energy balance associated with this Jackson closure is dissipative, as well as its thin layer associated model. We present several numerical tests for the 1D case that are compared to the

Cohesion-Induced Stabilization in Stick-Slip Dynamics of Weakly Wet, Sheared Granular Fault Gouge

Science.gov (United States)

Dorostkar, Omid; Guyer, Robert A.; Johnson, Paul A.; Marone, Chris; Carmeliet, Jan

2018-03-01

We use three-dimensional discrete element calculations to study stick-slip dynamics in a weakly wet granular layer designed to simulate fault gouge. The granular gouge is constituted by 8,000 spherical particles with a polydisperse size distribution. At very low liquid content, liquids impose cohesive and viscous forces on particles. Our simulations show that by increasing the liquid content, friction increases and granular layer shows higher recurrence time between slip events. We also observe that slip events exhibit larger friction drop and layer compaction in wet system compared to dry. We demonstrate that a small volume of liquid induces cohesive forces between wet particles that are responsible for an increase in coordination number leading to a more stable arrangement of particles. This stabilization is evidenced with 2 orders of magnitude lower particle kinetic energy in wet system during stick phase. Similar to previous experimental studies, we observe enhanced frictional strength for wet granular layers. In experiments, the physicochemical processes are believed to be the main reason for such behavior; we show, however, that at low confining stresses, the hydromechanical effects of induced cohesion are sufficient for observed behavior. Our simulations illuminate the role of particle interactions and demonstrate the conditions under which induced cohesion plays a significant role in fault zone processes, including slip initiation, weakening, and failure.

10,000 - A reason to study granular heat convection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Einav, I.; Rognon, P.; Gan, Y.; Miller, T.; Griffani, D. [Particles and Grains Laboratory, School of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

2013-06-18

In sheared granular media, particle motion is characterized by vortex-like structures; here this is demonstrated experimentally for disks system undergoing indefinite deformation during simple shear, as often imposed by the rock masses hosting earthquake fault gouges. In traditional fluids it has been known for years that vortices represent a major factor of heat transfer enhancement via convective internal mixing, but in analyses of heat transfer through earthquake faults and base planes of landslides this has been continuously neglected. Can research proceed by neglecting heat convection by internal mixing? Our answer is astonishingly far from being yes.

Impact Compaction of a Granular Material

Science.gov (United States)

Fenton, Gregg; Asay, Blaine; Todd, Steve; Grady, Dennis

2017-06-01

The dynamic behavior of granular materials has importance to a variety of engineering applications. Although, the mechanical behavior of granular materials have been studied extensively for several decades, the dynamic behavior of these materials remains poorly understood. High-quality experimental data are needed to improve our general understanding of granular material compaction physics. This paper describes how an instrumented plunger impact system can be used to measure the compaction process for granular materials at high and controlled strain rates and subsequently used for computational modelling. The experimental technique relies on a gas-gun driven plunger system to generate a compaction wave through a volume of granular material. This volume of material has been redundantly instrumented along the bed length to track the progression of the compaction wave, and the piston displacement is measured with Photon Doppler Velocimetry (PDV). Using the gathered experimental data along with the initial material tap density, a granular material equation of state can be determined.

Granular avalanches on the Moon: Mass-wasting conditions, processes, and features

Science.gov (United States)

Kokelaar, B. P.; Bahia, R. S.; Joy, K. H.; Viroulet, S.; Gray, J. M. N. T.

2017-09-01

Seven lunar crater sites of granular avalanches are studied utilizing high-resolution images (0.42-1.3 m/pixel) from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera; one, in Kepler crater, is examined in detail. All the sites are slopes of debris extensively aggraded by frictional freezing at their dynamic angle of repose, four in craters formed in basaltic mare and three in the anorthositic highlands. Diverse styles of mass wasting occur, and three types of dry-debris flow deposit are recognized: (1) multiple channel-and-lobe type, with coarse-grained levees and lobate terminations that impound finer debris, (2) single-surge polylobate type, with subparallel arrays of lobes and fingers with segregated coarse-grained margins, and (3) multiple-ribbon type, with tracks reflecting reworked substrate, minor levees, and no coarse terminations. The latter type results from propagation of granular erosion-deposition waves down slopes dominantly of fine regolith, and it is the first recognized natural example. Dimensions, architectures, and granular segregation styles of the two coarse-grained deposit types are like those formed in natural and experimental avalanches on Earth, although the timescale of motion differs due to the reduced gravity. Influences of reduced gravity and fine-grained regolith on dynamics of granular flow and deposition appear slight, but we distinguish, for the first time, extensive remobilization of coarse talus by inundation with finer debris. The (few) sites show no clear difference attributable to the contrasting mare basalt and highland megaregolith host rocks and their fragmentation. This lunar study offers a benchmarking of deposit types that can be attributed to formation without influence of liquid or gas.

Terminal velocity of liquids and granular materials dispersed by a high explosive

Science.gov (United States)

Loiseau, J.; Pontalier, Q.; Milne, A. M.; Goroshin, S.; Frost, D. L.

2018-04-01

The explosive dispersal of a layer of solid particles or a layer of liquid surrounding a spherical high-explosive charge generates a turbulent, multiphase flow. Shock compression of the material layer during the initial acceleration may partially consolidate the material, leading to the formation of jet-like structures when the layer fragments and sheds particles upon release. Similarly, release of a shock-compressed liquid shell causes the nucleation of cavitation sites, leading to the radial breakup of the shell and the formation of jets upon expansion. In the current study, a wide variety of granular materials and liquids were explosively dispersed. The maximum terminal jet tip or shell velocity was measured using high-speed videography. Charges were constructed using thin-walled glass bulbs of various diameters and contained a central C-4 charge surrounded by the material to be dispersed. This permitted variation of the ratio of material mass to charge mass (M/C) from 4 to 300. Results indicated that material velocity broadly correlates with predictions of the Gurney model. For liquids, the terminal velocity was accurately predicted by the Gurney model. For granular materials, Gurney over-predicted the terminal velocity by 25-60%, depending on the M/C ratio, with larger M/C values exhibiting larger deficits. These deficits are explained by energy dissipation during the collapse of voids in the granular material bed. Velocity deficits were insensitive to the degree of jetting and granular material properties. Empirical corrections to the Gurney model are presented with improved agreement with the dry powder experimental velocities.

Terminal velocity of liquids and granular materials dispersed by a high explosive

Science.gov (United States)

Loiseau, J.; Pontalier, Q.; Milne, A. M.; Goroshin, S.; Frost, D. L.

2018-05-01

The explosive dispersal of a layer of solid particles or a layer of liquid surrounding a spherical high-explosive charge generates a turbulent, multiphase flow. Shock compression of the material layer during the initial acceleration may partially consolidate the material, leading to the formation of jet-like structures when the layer fragments and sheds particles upon release. Similarly, release of a shock-compressed liquid shell causes the nucleation of cavitation sites, leading to the radial breakup of the shell and the formation of jets upon expansion. In the current study, a wide variety of granular materials and liquids were explosively dispersed. The maximum terminal jet tip or shell velocity was measured using high-speed videography. Charges were constructed using thin-walled glass bulbs of various diameters and contained a central C-4 charge surrounded by the material to be dispersed. This permitted variation of the ratio of material mass to charge mass ( M/ C) from 4 to 300. Results indicated that material velocity broadly correlates with predictions of the Gurney model. For liquids, the terminal velocity was accurately predicted by the Gurney model. For granular materials, Gurney over-predicted the terminal velocity by 25-60%, depending on the M/ C ratio, with larger M/ C values exhibiting larger deficits. These deficits are explained by energy dissipation during the collapse of voids in the granular material bed. Velocity deficits were insensitive to the degree of jetting and granular material properties. Empirical corrections to the Gurney model are presented with improved agreement with the dry powder experimental velocities.

Spray Drying Processing: granules production and drying kinetics of droplets; El proceso de secado por atomizacion: formacion de granulos y cinetica de secado de gotas

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mondragon, R.; Julia, J. E.; Barba, A.; Jarque, J. C.

2013-09-01

Spray drying is a unit operation very common in many industrial processes. For each particular application, the resulting granulated material must possess determined properties that depend on the conditions in which the spray drying processing has been carried out, and whose dependence must be known in order to optimize the quality of the material obtained. The large number of variables that influence on the processes of matter and energy transfer and on the formation of granular material has required a detailed analysis of the drying process. Over the years there have been many studies on the spray drying processing of all kind of materials and the influence of process variables on the drying kinetics of the granulated material properties obtained. This article lists the most important works published for both the spray drying processing and the drying of individual droplets, as well as studies aimed at modeling the drying kinetics of drops. (Author)

Long-term Performance of Granular Bases Including the Effect of Wet-Dry Cycles on Inverted Base Pavement Performance

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

The main objective of this study was to advance the understanding of alternative pavement designs. In particular, potential techniques such as inverted base pavements (IBP) have increased the importance of granular aggregate bases (GAB) in pavement s...

Granular flows: fundamentals and applications

Science.gov (United States)

Cleary, Paul W.

DEM allows the prediction of complex industrial and geophysical particle flows. The importance of particle shape is demonstrated through a series of simple examples. Shape controls resistance to shear, the magnitude of collision stress, dilation and the angle of repose. We use a periodic flow of a bed of particles to demonstrate the different states of granular matter, the generation of dilute granular flow when granular temperature is high and the flow dependent nature of the granular thermodynamic boundary conditions. A series of industrial case studies examines how DEM can be used to understand and improve processes such as separation, mixing, grinding, excavation, hopper discharge, metering and conveyor interchange. Finally, an example of landslide motion over real topography is presented.

Granular flows in constrained geometries

Science.gov (United States)

Murthy, Tejas; Viswanathan, Koushik

Confined geometries are widespread in granular processing applications. The deformation and flow fields in such a geometry, with non-trivial boundary conditions, determine the resultant mechanical properties of the material (local porosity, density, residual stresses etc.). We present experimental studies of deformation and plastic flow of a prototypical granular medium in different nontrivial geometries- flat-punch compression, Couette-shear flow and a rigid body sliding past a granular half-space. These geometries represent simplified scaled-down versions of common industrial configurations such as compaction and dredging. The corresponding granular flows show a rich variety of flow features, representing the entire gamut of material types, from elastic solids (beam buckling) to fluids (vortex-formation, boundary layers) and even plastically deforming metals (dead material zone, pile-up). The effect of changing particle-level properties (e.g., shape, size, density) on the observed flows is also explicitly demonstrated. Non-smooth contact dynamics particle simulations are shown to reproduce some of the observed flow features quantitatively. These results showcase some central challenges facing continuum-scale constitutive theories for dynamic granular flows.

Granular activated carbon for removal of organic matter and turbidity from secondary wastewater.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatt, J W; Germain, E; Judd, S J

2013-01-01

A range of commercial granular activated carbon (GAC) media have been assessed as pretreatment technologies for a downstream microfiltration (MF) process. Media were assessed on the basis of reduction in both organic matter and turbidity, since these are known to cause fouling in MF membranes. Isotherm adsorption analysis through jar testing with supplementary column trials revealed a wide variation between the different adsorbent materials with regard to organics removal and adsorption kinetics. Comparison with previous work using powdered activated carbon (PAC) revealed that for organic removal above 60% the use of GAC media incurs a significantly lower carbon usage rate than PAC. All GACs tested achieved a minimum of 80% turbidity removal. This combination of turbidity and organic removal suggests that GAC would be expected to provide a significant reduction in fouling of a downstream MF process with improved product water quality.

Micromodel observations of evaporative drying and salt deposition in porous media

Science.gov (United States)

Rufai, Ayorinde; Crawshaw, John

2017-12-01

Most evaporation experiments using artificial porous media have focused on single capillaries or sand packs. We have carried out, for the first time, evaporation studies on a 2.5D micromodel based on a thin section of a sucrosic dolomite rock. This allowed direct visual observation of pore-scale processes in a network of pores. NaCl solutions from 0 wt. % (de-ionized water) to 36 wt. % (saturated brine) were evaporated by passing dry air through a channel in front of the micromodel matrix. For de-ionized water, we observed the three classical periods of evaporation: the constant rate period (CRP) in which liquid remains connected to the matrix surface, the falling rate period, and the receding front period, in which the capillary connection is broken and water transport becomes dominated by vapour diffusion. However, when brine was dried in the micromodel, we observed that the length of the CRP decreased with increasing brine concentration and became almost non-existent for the saturated brine. In the experiments with brine, the mass lost by evaporation became linear with the square root of time after the short CRP. However, this is unlikely to be due to capillary disconnection from the surface of the matrix, as salt crystals continued to be deposited in the channel above the matrix. We propose that this is due to salt deposition at the matrix surface progressively impeding hydraulic connectivity to the evaporating surface.

Granular boycott effect: How to mix granulates

Science.gov (United States)

Duran, J.; Mazozi, T.

1999-11-01

Granular material can display the basic features of the Boycott effect in sedimentation. A simple experiment shows that granular material falls faster in an inclined tube than in a vertical tube, in analogy with the Boycott effect. As long as the inclination of the tube is above the avalanche threshold, descent of granular material in the tube causes internal convection which in turn results in an efficient mixture of the granular components. By contrast, as in analogous experiments in two dimensions, a vertical fall of granular material occurs via successive block fragmentation, resulting in poor mixing.

Process optimization of ultrasound-assisted alcoholic-alkaline treatment for granular cold water swelling starches.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Bo; Liu, Jianli; Gao, Weidong

2017-09-01

This paper reports on the process optimization of ultrasonic assisted alcoholic-alkaline treatment to prepare granular cold water swelling (GCWS) starches. In this work, three statistical approaches such as Plackett-Burman, steepest ascent path analysis and Box-Behnken design were successfully combined to investigate the effects of major treatment process variables including starch concentration, ethanol volume fraction, sodium hydroxide dosage, ultrasonic power and treatment time, and drying operation, that is, vacuum degree and drying time on cold-water solubility. Results revealed that ethanol volume fraction, sodium hydroxide dosage, applied power and ultrasonic treatment time were significant factors that affected the cold-water solubility of GCWS starches. The maximum cold-water solubility was obtained when treated at 400W of applied power for 27.38min. Optimum volume fraction of ethanol and sodium hydroxide dosage were 66.85% and 53.76mL, respectively. The theoretical values (93.87%) and the observed values (93.87%) were in reasonably good agreement and the deviation was less than 1%. Verification and repeated trial results indicated that the ultrasound-assisted alcoholic-alkaline treatment could be successfully used for the preparation of granular cold water swelling starches at room temperatures and had excellent improvement on the cold-water solubility of GCWS starches. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Stoneley waves in a non-homogeneous orthotropic granular medium under the influence of gravity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. M. Ahmed

2005-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this paper is to investigate the Stoneley waves in a non-homogeneous orthotropic granular medium under the influence of a gravity field. The frequency equation obtained, in the form of a sixth-order determinantal expression, is in agreement with the corresponding result when both media are elastic. The frequency equation when the gravity field is neglected has been deduced as a particular case.

Shear test results for cohesion and friction coefficients for different granular materials : Scaling implications for their usage in analogue modelling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Schellart, W. P.

2000-01-01

Laboratory tests have been carried out on dry granular materials such as quartz sand, glass microspheres and sugar with different grain size, rounding and sphericity. The measurements have been made with a simple shear test machine for different values of normal stress (~ 50-900 Pa). Shear stress

An experimental study on the erosion behavior of pseudoelastic TiNi alloy in dry sand and in aggressive media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Zhang, T.; Li, D.Y. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

2000-11-30

The corrosive erosion behavior of Ti-51at.%Ni alloy under different erosion conditions was studied and compared to that of 304 stainless steel. Erosion tests were performed in a slurry-pot tester with dry sand, 3.5% NaCl slurry and 0.1 moll{sup -1} H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} slurry containing 30% silica sand, respectively. Synergistic effects of corrosion and erosion were studied in steady corrosion, polarization, dry sand erosion and micro-wear experiments. An electrochemical-scratching test characterized the failure and recovery of the passive film formed on TiNi alloy in 3.5% NaCl and 0.1 mol l{sup -1} H{sub 2}SO{sub 4} solutions, respectively. In both dry sand and the corrosive media, the TiNi alloy exhibited considerably greater erosion resistance than 304 stainless steel. (orig.)

2nd conference on Continuous Media with Microstructure

CERN Document Server

Kuczma, Mieczysław

2016-01-01

This book presents research advances in the field of Continuous Media with Microstructure and considers the three complementary pillars of mechanical sciences: theory, research and computational simulation. It focuses on the following problems: thermodynamic and mathematical modeling of materials with extensions of classical constitutive laws, single and multicomponent media including modern multifunctional materials, wave propagation, multiscale and multiphysics processes, phase transformations, and porous, granular and composite materials. The book presents the proceedings of the 2nd Conference on Continuous Media with Microstructure, which was held in 2015 in Łagów, Poland, in memory of Prof. Krzysztof Wilmański. .

Homogenization of discrete media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pradel, F.; Sab, K.

1998-01-01

Material such as granular media, beam assembly are easily seen as discrete media. They look like geometrical points linked together thanks to energetic expressions. Our purpose is to extend discrete kinematics to the one of an equivalent continuous material. First we explain how we build the localisation tool for periodic materials according to estimated continuum medium type (classical Cauchy, and Cosserat media). Once the bridge built between discrete and continuum media, we exhibit its application over two bidimensional beam assembly structures : the honey comb and a structural reinforced variation. The new behavior is then applied for the simple plan shear problem in a Cosserat continuum and compared with the real discrete solution. By the mean of this example, we establish the agreement of our new model with real structures. The exposed method has a longer range than mechanics and can be applied to every discrete problems like electromagnetism in which relationship between geometrical points can be summed up by an energetic function. (orig.)

Homogenization of discrete media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pradel, F.; Sab, K. [CERAM-ENPC, Marne-la-Vallee (France)

1998-11-01

Material such as granular media, beam assembly are easily seen as discrete media. They look like geometrical points linked together thanks to energetic expressions. Our purpose is to extend discrete kinematics to the one of an equivalent continuous material. First we explain how we build the localisation tool for periodic materials according to estimated continuum medium type (classical Cauchy, and Cosserat media). Once the bridge built between discrete and continuum media, we exhibit its application over two bidimensional beam assembly structures : the honey comb and a structural reinforced variation. The new behavior is then applied for the simple plan shear problem in a Cosserat continuum and compared with the real discrete solution. By the mean of this example, we establish the agreement of our new model with real structures. The exposed method has a longer range than mechanics and can be applied to every discrete problems like electromagnetism in which relationship between geometrical points can be summed up by an energetic function. (orig.) 7 refs.

2D granular flows with the μ(I) rheology and side walls friction: A well-balanced multilayer discretization

Science.gov (United States)

Fernández-Nieto, E. D.; Garres-Díaz, J.; Mangeney, A.; Narbona-Reina, G.

2018-03-01

We present here numerical modelling of granular flows with the μ (I) rheology in confined channels. The contribution is twofold: (i) a model to approximate the Navier-Stokes equations with the μ (I) rheology through an asymptotic analysis; under the hypothesis of a one-dimensional flow, this model takes into account side walls friction; (ii) a multilayer discretization following Fernández-Nieto et al. (2016) [20]. In this new numerical scheme, we propose an appropriate treatment of the rheological terms through a hydrostatic reconstruction which allows this scheme to be well-balanced and therefore to deal with dry areas. Based on academic tests, we first evaluate the influence of the width of the channel on the normal profiles of the downslope velocity thanks to the multilayer approach that is intrinsically able to describe changes from Bagnold to S-shaped (and vice versa) velocity profiles. We also check the well-balanced property of the proposed numerical scheme. We show that approximating side walls friction using single-layer models may lead to strong errors. Secondly, we compare the numerical results with experimental data on granular collapses. We show that the proposed scheme allows us to qualitatively reproduce the deposit in the case of a rigid bed (i.e. dry area) and that the error made by replacing the dry area by a small layer of material may be large if this layer is not thin enough. The proposed model is also able to reproduce the time evolution of the free surface and of the flow/no-flow interface. In addition, it reproduces the effect of erosion for granular flows over initially static material lying on the bed. This is possible when using a variable friction coefficient μ (I) but not with a constant friction coefficient.

Granular discharge rate for submerged hoppers

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. J. Wilson

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The discharge of spherical grains from a hole in the bottom of a right circular cylinder is measured with the entire system underwater. We find that the discharge rate depends on filling height, in contrast to the well-known case of dry non-cohesive grains. It is further surprising that the rate increases up to about twenty five percent, as the hopper empties and the granular pressure head decreases. For deep filling, where the discharge rate is constant, we measure the behavior as a function of both grain and hole diameters. The discharge rate scale is set by the product of hole area and the terminal falling speed of isolated grains. But there is a small-hole cutoff of about two and half grain diameters, which is larger than the analogous cutoff in the Beverloo equation for dry grains. Received: 11 September 2014, Accepted: 10 October 2014; Reviewed by: L. Staron, CNRS, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Institut Le Rond d'Alembert, Paris, France; Edited by: L. A. Pugnaloni; DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.060009 Cite as: T J Wilson, C R Pfeifer, N Meysingier, D J Durian, Papers in Physics 6, 060009 (2014

Settling properties of aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and aerobic granular sludge molasses (AGSM)

Science.gov (United States)

Mat Saad, Azlina; Aini Dahalan, Farrah; Ibrahim, Naimah; Yasina Yusuf, Sara; Aqlima Ahmad, Siti; Khalil, Khalilah Abdul

2018-03-01

Aerobic granulation technology is applied to treat domestic and industrial wastewater. The Aerobic granular sludge (AGS) cultivated has strong properties that appears to be denser and compact in physiological structure compared to the conventional activated sludge. It offers rapid settling for solid:liquid separation in wastewater treatment. Aerobic granules were developed using sequencing batch reactor (SBR) with intermittent aerobic - anaerobic mode with 8 cycles in 24 hr. This study examined the settling velocity performance of cultivated aerobic granular sludge (AGS) and aerobic granular sludge molasses (AGSM). The elemental composition in both AGS and AGSM were determined using X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The results showed that AGSM has higher settling velocity 30.5 m/h compared to AGS.

Granular packing as model glass formers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Yujie

2017-01-01

Static granular packings are model hard-sphere glass formers. The nature of glass transition has remained a hotly debated issue. We review recent experimental progresses in using granular materials to study glass transitions. We focus on the growth of glass order with five-fold symmetry in granular packings and relate the findings to both geometric frustration and random first-order phase transition theories. (paper)

Relating water and air flow characteristics in coarse granular materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andreasen, Rune Røjgaard; Canga, Eriona; Poulsen, Tjalfe Gorm

2013-01-01

Water pressure drop as a function of velocity controls w 1 ater cleaning biofilter operation 2 cost. At present this relationship in biofilter materials must be determined experimentally as no 3 universal link between pressure drop, velocity and filter material properties have been established. 4...... Pressure drop - velocity in porous media is much simpler and faster to measure for air than for water. 5 For soils and similar materials, observations show a strong connection between pressure drop – 6 velocity relations for air and water, indicating that water pressure drop – velocity may be estimated 7...... from air flow data. The objective of this study was, therefore, to investigate if this approach is valid 8 also for coarse granular biofilter media which usually consists of much larger particles than soils. In 9 this paper the connection between the pressure drop – velocity relationships for air...

Effect of cohesion on local compaction and granulation of sheared soft granular materials

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roy Sudeshna

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper results from an ongoing investigation of the effect of cohesion on the compaction of sheared soft wet granular materials. We compare dry non-cohesive and wet moderately-to-strongly cohesive soft almost frictionless granular materials and report the effect of cohesion between the grains on the local volume fraction. We study this in a three dimensional, unconfined, slowly sheared split-bottom ring shear cell, where materials while sheared are subject to compression under the confining weight of the material above. Our results show that inter-particle cohesion has a considerable impact on the compaction of soft materials. Cohesion causes additional stresses, due to capillary forces between particles, leading to an increase in volume fraction due to higher compaction. This effect is not visible in a system of infinitely stiff particles. In addition, acting oppositely, we observe a general decrease in volume fraction due to increased cohesion for frictional particle, which we attribute to the role of contact friction that enhances dilation.

Evaluation of interlayer ferromagnetic coupling for stacked media by adding reference layer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tham, K K; Saito, S; Itagaki, N; Hinata, S; Takahashi, M; Hasegawa, D

2011-01-01

The trial for quantitative evaluation of interlayer ferromagnetic coupling between granular and cap layer in stacked media is reported. The evaluation is realized by analyzing M-H loop of stacked media with another reference layer added on the cap layer. The reference layer is antiferromagnetically coupled with the cap layer through non-magnetic spacer layer. In this experiment, Rh which leads to antiferromagnetic coupling constant along film normal direction of around 2 erg/cm 2 was used as non-magnetic spacer layer. According to the evaluation result done by this method, when thickness of the spacer Pd layer between granular layer and cap layer is increased to 1.1 nm, ferromagnetic coupling constant is weakened to 7.2 erg/cm 2 which results in reduction of saturation field.

Impact-induced splash and spill in a quasi-confined granular medium

Science.gov (United States)

Ogale, S. B.; Shinde, S. R.; Karve, P. A.; Ogale, Abhijit S.; Kulkarni, A.; Athawale, A.; Phadke, A.; Thakurdas, R.

2006-05-01

The splash and spill effects caused by the impact of a ball dropped from a height into a granular medium held in a small open container are examined. Different granular media, namely rice, mustard seeds, cream of wheat and plastic beads are used. The quantity of spilled-over granular matter ( W, grams) is measured as a function of the ball-drop height and compared for different cases. Digital pictures of the splash process are also recorded. The quantity W is seen to vary approximately linearly with the energy of impact. Interestingly, a distinct upward jump is seen in the spilled quantity at specific impact energy in the case of mustard seeds, which have spherical shape and also exhibit some charging effects. Similar jump was also confirmed for the case of plastic beads with broadly similar properties. Although the parameters such as mass per grain and packing density for the case of mustard seeds are intermediate between those for rice and cream of wheat, the spill quantity for comparable impact energy is considerably higher in the former case. The possible reasons for this non-monotonicity of behavior are discussed in terms of the differences in grain shapes and properties. Experiments are also performed using plastic beads of the same type but with four different sizes to explore the dependence of spilled quantity on bead size. The container size dependence is also examined for various bead types. Interesting systematics are seen, which are discussed qualitatively.

Transport and sorption of volatile organic compounds and water vapor in porous media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lin, Tsair-Fuh [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

1995-07-01

To gain insight on the controlling mechanisms for VOC transport in porous media, the relations among sorbent properties, sorption equilibrium and intraparticle diffusion processes were studied at the level of individual sorbent particles and laboratory columns for soil and activated carbon systems. Transport and sorption of VOCs and water vapor were first elucidated within individual dry soil mineral grains. Soil properties, sorption capacity, and sorption rates were measured for 3 test soils; results suggest that the soil grains are porous, while the sorption isotherms are nonlinear and adsorption-desorption rates are slow and asymmetric. An intragranular pore diffusion model coupled with the nonlinear Freundlich isotherm was developed to describe the sorption kinetic curves. Transport of benzene and water vapor within peat was studied; partitioning and sorption kinetics were determined with an electrobalance. A dual diffusion model was developed. Transport of benzene in dry and moist soil columns was studied, followed by gaseous transport and sorption in activated carbon. The pore diffusion model provides good fits to sorption kinetics for VOCs to soil and VOC to granular activated carbon and activated carbon fibers. Results of this research indicate that: Intraparticle diffusion along with a nonlinea sorption isotherm are responsible for the slow, asymmetric sorption-desorption. Diffusion models are able to describe results for soil and activated carbon systems; when combined with mass transfer equations, they predict column breakthrough curves for several systems. Although the conditions are simplified, the mechanisms should provide insight on complex systems involving transport and sorption of vapors in porous media.

Stable solutions of a scalar conservation law for particle-size segregation in dense granular avalanches

OpenAIRE

Shearer, M.; Gray, J. M N T; Thornton, A. R.

2008-01-01

Dense, dry granular avalanches are very efficient at sorting the larger particles towards the free surface of the flow, and finer grains towards the base, through the combined processes of kinetic sieving and squeeze expulsion. This generates an inversely graded particle-size distribution, which is fundamental to a variety of pattern formation mechanisms, as well as subtle size-mobility feedback effects, leading to the formation of coarse-grained lateral levees that create channels in geophys...

How granular vortices can help understanding rheological and mixing properties of dense granular flows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rognon Pierre

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Dense granular flows exhibit fascinating kinematic patterns characterised by strong fluctuations in grain velocities. In this paper, we analyse these fluctuations and discuss their possible role on macroscopic properties such as effective viscosity, non-locality and shear-induced diffusion. The analysis is based on 2D experimental granular flows performed with the stadium shear device and DEM simulations. We first show that, when subjected to shear, grains self-organised into clusters rotating like rigid bodies. The average size of these so-called granular vortices is found to increase and diverge for lower inertial numbers, when flows decelerate and stop. We then discuss how such a microstructural entity and its associated internal length scale, possibly much larger than a grain, may be used to explain two important properties of dense granular flows: (i the existence of shear-induced diffusion of grains characterised by a shear-rate independent diffusivity and (ii the development of boundary layers near walls, where the viscosity is seemingly lower than the viscosity far from walls.

Protocol dependence of mechanical properties in granular systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Inagaki, S; Otsuki, M; Sasa, S

2011-11-01

We study the protocol dependence of the mechanical properties of granular media by means of computer simulations. We control a protocol of realizing disk packings in a systematic manner. In 2D, by keeping material properties of the constituents identical, we carry out compaction with various strain rates. The disk packings exhibit the strain rate dependence of the critical packing fraction above which the pressure becomes non-zero. The observed behavior contrasts with the well-studied jamming transitions for frictionless disk packings. We also observe that the elastic moduli of the disk packings depend on the strain rate logarithmically. Our results suggest that there exists a time-dependent state variable to describe macroscopic material properties of disk packings, which depend on its protocol.

Thermal conductivity of granular materials

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buyevich, Yu A

1974-01-01

Stationary heat transfer in a granular material consisting of a continuous medium containing spherical granules of other substances is considered under the assumption that the spatial distribution of granules is random. The effective thermal conductivity characterizing macroscopic heat transfer in such a material is expressed as a certain function of the conductivities and volume fractions of the medium and dispersed substances. For reasons of mathematical analogy, all the results obtained for the thermal conductivity are valid while computing the effective diffusivity of some admixture in granular materials as well as for evaluation of the effective electric conductivity or the mean dielectric and magnetic permeabilities of granular conductors and dielectrics. (23 refs.)

Effective temperature and fluctuation-dissipation theorem in athermal granular systems: A review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen Qiong; Hou Mei-Ying

2014-01-01

The definition and the previous measurements of a dynamics-relevant temperature-like quantity in granular media are reviewed for slow and fast particle systems. Especially, the validity of the fluctuation-dissipation theorem in such an athermal system is explored. Experimental evidences for the fluctuation-dissipation theorem relevant effect temperature support the athermal statistical mechanics, which has been widely explored in recent years by physicists. Difficulties encountered in defining temperature or establishing thermodynamics or statistical mechanics in non-equilibrium situations are discussed. (topical review - statistical physics and complex systems)

Granular materials flow like complex fluids

Science.gov (United States)

Kou, Binquan; Cao, Yixin; Li, Jindong; Xia, Chengjie; Li, Zhifeng; Dong, Haipeng; Zhang, Ang; Zhang, Jie; Kob, Walter; Wang, Yujie

2017-11-01

Granular materials such as sand, powders and foams are ubiquitous in daily life and in industrial and geotechnical applications. These disordered systems form stable structures when unperturbed, but in the presence of external influences such as tapping or shear they `relax', becoming fluid in nature. It is often assumed that the relaxation dynamics of granular systems is similar to that of thermal glass-forming systems. However, so far it has not been possible to determine experimentally the dynamic properties of three-dimensional granular systems at the particle level. This lack of experimental data, combined with the fact that the motion of granular particles involves friction (whereas the motion of particles in thermal glass-forming systems does not), means that an accurate description of the relaxation dynamics of granular materials is lacking. Here we use X-ray tomography to determine the microscale relaxation dynamics of hard granular ellipsoids subject to an oscillatory shear. We find that the distribution of the displacements of the ellipsoids is well described by a Gumbel law (which is similar to a Gaussian distribution for small displacements but has a heavier tail for larger displacements), with a shape parameter that is independent of the amplitude of the shear strain and of the time. Despite this universality, the mean squared displacement of an individual ellipsoid follows a power law as a function of time, with an exponent that does depend on the strain amplitude and time. We argue that these results are related to microscale relaxation mechanisms that involve friction and memory effects (whereby the motion of an ellipsoid at a given point in time depends on its previous motion). Our observations demonstrate that, at the particle level, the dynamic behaviour of granular systems is qualitatively different from that of thermal glass-forming systems, and is instead more similar to that of complex fluids. We conclude that granular materials can relax

Tap density equations of granular powders based on the rate process theory and the free volume concept.

Science.gov (United States)

Hao, Tian

2015-02-28

The tap density of a granular powder is often linked to the flowability via the Carr index that measures how tight a powder can be packed, under an assumption that more easily packed powders usually flow poorly. Understanding how particles are packed is important for revealing why a powder flows better than others. There are two types of empirical equations that were proposed to fit the experimental data of packing fractions vs. numbers of taps in the literature: the inverse logarithmic and the stretched exponential. Using the rate process theory and the free volume concept under the assumption that particles will obey similar thermodynamic laws during the tapping process if the "granular temperature" is defined in a different way, we obtain the tap density equations, and they are reducible to the two empirical equations currently widely used in literature. Our equations could potentially fit experimental data better with an additional adjustable parameter. The tapping amplitude and frequency, the weight of the granular materials, and the environmental temperature are grouped into this parameter that weighs the pace of the packing process. The current results, in conjunction with our previous findings, may imply that both "dry" (granular) and "wet" (colloidal and polymeric) particle systems are governed by the same physical mechanisms in term of the role of the free volume and how particles behave (a rate controlled process).

Flow above and within granular media composed of spherical and non-spherical particles - using a 3D numerical model

Science.gov (United States)

Bartzke, Gerhard; Kuhlmann, Jannis; Huhn, Katrin

2016-04-01

The entrainment of single grains and, hence, their erosion characteristics are dependent on fluid forcing, grain size and density, but also shape variations. To quantitatively describe and capture the hydrodynamic conditions around individual grains, researchers commonly use empirical approaches such as laboratory flume tanks. Nonetheless, it is difficult with such physical experiments to measure the flow velocities in the direct vicinity or within the pore spaces of sediments, at a sufficient resolution and in a non-invasive way. As a result, the hydrodynamic conditions in the water column, at the fluid-porous interface and within pore spaces of a granular medium of various grain shapes is not yet fully understood. For that reason, there is a strong need for numerical models, since these are capable of quantifying fluid speeds within a granular medium. A 3D-SPH (Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics) numerical wave tank model was set up to provide quantitative evidence on the flow velocities in the direct vicinity and in the interior of granular beds composed of two shapes as a complementary method to the difficult task of in situ measurement. On the basis of previous successful numerical wave tank models with SPH, the model geometry was chosen in dimensions of X=2.68 [m], Y=0.48 [m], and Z=0.8 [m]. Three suites of experiments were designed with a range of particle shape models: (1) ellipsoids with the long axis oriented in the across-stream direction, (2) ellipsoids with the long axis oriented in the along-stream direction, and (3) spheres. Particle diameters ranged from 0.04 [m] to 0.08 [m]. A wave was introduced by a vertical paddle that accelerated to 0.8 [m/s] perpendicular to the granular bed. Flow measurements showed that the flow velocity values into the beds were highest when the grains were oriented across the stream direction and lowest in case when the grains were oriented parallel to the stream, indicating that the model was capable to simulate simultaneously

Magnetic properties of soft layer/FePt-MgO exchange coupled composite Perpendicular recording media

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Yin Jin-Hua; Takao Suzuki; Pan Li-Qing

2008-01-01

The magnetic properties of exchange coupled composite(ECC)media that are composed of perpendicular magnetic recording media FePt-MgO and two kinds of soft layers have been studied by using an x-ray diffractometer,a polar Kerr magneto-optical system(PMOKE)and a vibrating sample magnetometer(VSM).The results show that ECC media can reduce the coercivities of perpendicular magnetic recording media FePt-MgO.The ECC media with granular-type soft layers have weaker exchange couplings between magnetic grains and the magnetization process,for ECC media of this kind mainly follow the Stoner-Wohlfarth model.

Discrete Element Method simulations of standing jumps in granular flows down inclines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Méjean Ségolène

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a numerical set-up which uses Discrete Element Method to produce standing jumps in flows of dry granular materials down a slope in two dimensions. The grain-scale force interactions are modeled by a visco-elastic normal force and an elastic tangential force with a Coulomb threshold. We will show how it is possible to reproduce all the shapes of the jumps observed in a previous laboratory study: diffuse versus steep jumps and compressible versus incompressible jumps. Moreover, we will discuss the additional measurements that can be done thanks to discrete element modelling.

Evaluation of granular anaerobic ammonium oxidation process for the disposal of pre-treated swine manure

OpenAIRE

Shou-Qing Ni; Ning Yang

2014-01-01

With rising environmental concerns on potable water safety and eutrophication, increased media attention and tighter environmental regulations, managing animal waste in an environmentally responsible and economically feasible way can be a challenge. In this study, the possibility of using granular anammox process for ammonia removal from swine waste treatment water was investigated. A rapid decrease of NO2 −–N and NH4 +–N was observed during incubation with wastewater from an activated sludge...

Effect of dynamic and static friction on an asymmetric granular piston.

Science.gov (United States)

Talbot, Julian; Viot, Pascal

2012-02-01

We investigate the influence of dry friction on an asymmetric, granular piston of mass M, composed of two materials, undergoing inelastic collisions with bath particles of mass m. Numerical simulations of the Boltzmann-Lorentz equation reveal the existence of two scaling regimes depending on the friction strength. In the large friction limit, we introduce an exact model giving the asymptotic behavior of the Boltzmann-Lorentz equation. For small friction and for large mass ratio M/m, we derive a Fokker-Planck equation for which the exact solution is also obtained. Static friction attenuates the motor effect and results in a discontinuous velocity distribution. © 2012 American Physical Society

DEM simulation of granular flows in a centrifugal acceleration field

Science.gov (United States)

Cabrera, Miguel Angel; Peng, Chong; Wu, Wei

2017-04-01

The main purpose of mass-flow experimental models is abstracting distinctive features of natural granular flows, and allow its systematic study in the laboratory. In this process, particle size, space, time, and stress scales must be considered for the proper representation of specific phenomena [5]. One of the most challenging tasks in small scale models, is matching the range of stresses and strains among the particle and fluid media observed in a field event. Centrifuge modelling offers an alternative to upscale all gravity-driven processes, and it has been recently employed in the simulation of granular flows [1, 2, 3, 6, 7]. Centrifuge scaling principles are presented in Ref. [4], collecting a wide spectrum of static and dynamic models. However, for the case of kinematic processes, the non-uniformity of the centrifugal acceleration field plays a major role (i.e., Coriolis and inertial effects). In this work, we discuss a general formulation for the centrifugal acceleration field, implemented in a discrete element model framework (DEM), and validated with centrifuge experimental results. Conventional DEM simulations relate the volumetric forces as a function of the gravitational force Gp = mpg. However, in the local coordinate system of a rotating centrifuge model, the cylindrical centrifugal acceleration field needs to be included. In this rotating system, the centrifugal acceleration of a particle depends on the rotating speed of the centrifuge, as well as the position and speed of the particle in the rotating model. Therefore, we obtain the formulation of centrifugal acceleration field by coordinate transformation. The numerical model is validated with a series of centrifuge experiments of monodispersed glass beads, flowing down an inclined plane at different acceleration levels and slope angles. Further discussion leads to the numerical parameterization necessary for simulating equivalent granular flows under an augmented acceleration field. The premise of

Capturing 2D transient surface data of granular flows against obstacles with an RGB-D sensor

Science.gov (United States)

Caviedes-Voullieme, Daniel; Juez, Carmelo; Murillo, Javier; Garcia-Navarro, Pilar

2014-05-01

Landslides are an ubiquitous natural hazard, and therefore human infrastructure and settlements are often at risk in mountainous regions. In order to better understand and predict landslides, systematic studies of the phenomena need to be undertaken. In particular, computational tools which allow for analysis of field problems require to be thoroughly tested, calibrated and validated under controlled conditions. And to do so, it is necessary for such controlled experiments to be fully characterized in the same terms as the numerical model requires. This work presents an experimental study of dry granular flow over a rough bed with topography which resembles a mountain valley. It has an upper region with a very high slope. The geometry of the bed describes a fourth order polynomial curve, with a low point with zero slope, and afterwards a short region with adverse slope. Obstacles are present in the lower regions which are used as model geometries of human structures. The experiments consisted of a sudden release a mass of sand on the upper region, and allowing it to flow downslope. Furthermore, it has been frequent in previous studies to measure final states of the granular mass at rest, but seldom has transient data being provided, and never for the entire field. In this work we present transient measurements of the moving granular surfaces, obtained with a consumer-grade RGB-D sensor. The sensor, developed for the videogame industry, allows to measure the moving surface of the sand, thus obtaining elevation fields. The experimental results are very consistent and repeatable. The measured surfaces clearly show the distinctive features of the granular flow around the obstacles and allow to qualitatively describe the different flow patterns. More importantly, the quantitative description of the granular surface allows for benchmarking and calibration of predictive numerical models, key in scaling the small-scale experimental knowledge into the field.

Systematic description of the effect of particle shape on the strength properties of granular media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Azéma Emilien

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we explore numerically the effect of particle shape on the mechanical behavior of sheared granular packings. In the framework of the Contact Dynamic (CDMethod, we model angular shape as irregular polyhedral particles, non-convex shape as regular aggregates of four overlapping spheres, elongated shape as rounded cap rectangles and platy shape as square-plates. Binary granular mixture consisting of disks and elongated particles are also considered. For each above situations, the number of face of polyhedral particles, the overlap of spheres, the aspect ratio of elongated and platy particles, are systematically varied from spheres to very angular, non-convex, elongated and platy shapes. The level of homogeneity of binary mixture varies from homogenous packing to fully segregated packings. Our numerical results suggest that the effects of shape parameters are nonlinear and counterintuitive. We show that the shear strength increases as shape deviate from spherical shape. But, for angular shapes it first increases up to a maximum value and then saturates to a constant value as the particles become more angular. For mixture of two shapes, the strength increases with respect of the increase of the proportion of elongated particles, but surprisingly it is independent with the level of homogeneity of the mixture. A detailed analysis of the contact network topology, evidence that various contact types contribute differently to stress transmission at the micro-scale.

Substructural Regularization With Data-Sensitive Granularity for Sequence Transfer Learning.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Shichang; Liu, Hongbo; Meng, Jiana; Chen, C L Philip; Yang, Yu

2018-06-01

Sequence transfer learning is of interest in both academia and industry with the emergence of numerous new text domains from Twitter and other social media tools. In this paper, we put forward the data-sensitive granularity for transfer learning, and then, a novel substructural regularization transfer learning model (STLM) is proposed to preserve target domain features at substructural granularity in the light of the condition of labeled data set size. Our model is underpinned by hidden Markov model and regularization theory, where the substructural representation can be integrated as a penalty after measuring the dissimilarity of substructures between target domain and STLM with relative entropy. STLM can achieve the competing goals of preserving the target domain substructure and utilizing the observations from both the target and source domains simultaneously. The estimation of STLM is very efficient since an analytical solution can be derived as a necessary and sufficient condition. The relative usability of substructures to act as regularization parameters and the time complexity of STLM are also analyzed and discussed. Comprehensive experiments of part-of-speech tagging with both Brown and Twitter corpora fully justify that our model can make improvements on all the combinations of source and target domains.

HYPERELASTIC MODELS FOR GRANULAR MATERIALS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Humrickhouse, Paul W; Corradini, Michael L

2009-01-29

A continuum framework for modeling of dust mobilization and transport, and the behavior of granular systems in general, has been reviewed, developed and evaluated for reactor design applications. The large quantities of micron-sized particles expected in the international fusion reactor design, ITER, will accumulate into piles and layers on surfaces, which are large relative to the individual particle size; thus, particle-particle, rather than particle-surface, interactions will determine the behavior of the material in bulk, and a continuum approach is necessary and justified in treating the phenomena of interest; e.g., particle resuspension and transport. The various constitutive relations that characterize these solid particle interactions in dense granular flows have been discussed previously, but prior to mobilization their behavior is not even fluid. Even in the absence of adhesive forces between particles, dust or sand piles can exist in static equilibrium under gravity and other forces, e.g., fluid shear. Their behavior is understood to be elastic, though not linear. The recent “granular elasticity” theory proposes a non-linear elastic model based on “Hertz contacts” between particles; the theory identifies the Coulomb yield condition as a requirement for thermodynamic stability, and has successfully reproduced experimental results for stress distributions in sand piles. The granular elasticity theory is developed and implemented in a stand- alone model and then implemented as part of a finite element model, ABAQUS, to determine the stress distributions in dust piles subjected to shear by a fluid flow. We identify yield with the onset of mobilization, and establish, for a given dust pile and flow geometry, the threshold pressure (force) conditions on the surface due to flow required to initiate it. While the granular elasticity theory applies strictly to cohesionless granular materials, attractive forces are clearly important in the interaction of

NMR Measurements of Granular Flow and Compaction

Science.gov (United States)

Fukushima, Eiichi

1998-03-01

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) can be used to measure statistical distributions of granular flow velocity and fluctuations of velocity, as well as spatial distributions of particulate concentration, flow velocity, its fluctuations, and other parameters that may be derived from these. All measurements have been of protons in liquid-containing particles such as mustard seeds or pharmaceutical pills. Our favorite geometry has been the slowly rotating partially filled rotating drum with granular flow taking place along the free surface of the particles. All the above-mentioned parameters have been studied as well as a spatial distribution of particulate diffusion coefficients, energy dissipation due to collisions, as well as segregation of non-uniform mixtures of granular material. Finally, we describe some motions of granular material under periodic vibrations.

Porous filtering media comparison through wet and dry sampling of fixed bed gasification products

Science.gov (United States)

Allesina, G.; Pedrazzi, S.; Montermini, L.; Giorgini, L.; Bortolani, G.; Tartarini, P.

2014-11-01

The syngas produced by fixed bed gasifiers contains high quantities of particulate and tars. This issue, together with its high temperature, avoids its direct exploitation without a proper cleaning and cooling process. In fact, when the syngas produced by gasification is used in an Internal Combustion engine (IC), the higher the content of tars and particulate, the higher the risk to damage the engine is. If these compounds are not properly removed, the engine may fail to run. A way to avoid engine fails is to intensify the maintenance schedule, but these stops will reduce the system profitability. From a clean syngas does not only follow higher performance of the generator, but also less pollutants in the atmosphere. When is not possible to work on the gasification reactions, the filter plays the most important role in the engine safeguard process. This work is aimed at developing and comparing different porous filters for biomass gasifiers power plants. A drum filter was developed and tested filling it with different filtering media available on the market. As a starting point, the filter was implemented in a Power Pallet 10 kW gasifier produced by the California-based company "ALL Power Labs". The original filter was replaced with different porous biomasses, such as woodchips and corn cobs. Finally, a synthetic zeolites medium was tested and compared with the biological media previously used. The Tar Sampling Protocol (TSP) and a modified "dry" method using the Silica Gel material were applied to evaluate the tars, particulate and water amount in the syngas after the filtration process. Advantages and disadvantages of every filtering media chosen were reported and discussed.

2D transient granular flows over obstacles: experimental and numerical work

Science.gov (United States)

Juez, Carmelo; Caviedes-Voullième, Daniel; Murillo, Javier; García-Navarro, Pilar

2016-04-01

Landslides are an ubiquitous natural hazard, and therefore human infrastructure and settlements are often at risk in mountainous regions. In order to better understand and predict landslides, systematic studies of the phenomena need to be undertaken. In particular, computational tools which allow for analysis of field problems require to be thoroughly tested, calibrated and validated under controlled conditions. And to do so, it is necessary for such controlled experiments to be fully characterized in the same terms as the numerical model requires. This work presents an experimental study of dry granular flow over a rough bed with topography which resembles a mountain valley. It has an upper region with a very high slope. The geometry of the bed describes a fourth order polynomial curve, with a low point with zero slope, and afterwards a short region with adverse slope. Obstacles are present in the lower regions which are used as model geometries of human structures. The experiments consisted of a sudden release a mass of sand on the upper region, and allowing it to flow downslope. Furthermore, it has been frequent in previous studies to measure final states of the granular mass at rest, but seldom has transient data being provided, and never for the entire field. In this work we present transient measurements of the moving granular surfaces, obtained with a consumer-grade RGB-D sensor. The sensor, developed for the videogame industry, allows to measure the moving surface of the sand, thus obtaining elevation fields. The experimental results are very consistent and repeatable. The measured surfaces clearly show the distinctive features of the granular flow around the obstacles and allow to qualitatively describe the different flow patterns. More importantly, the quantitative description of the granular surface allows for benchmarking and calibration of predictive numerical models, key in scaling the small-scale experimental knowledge into the field. In addition, as

Flow and fracture in water-saturated, unconstrained granular beds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Germán eVaras

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The injection of gas in a liquid-saturated granular bed gives rise to a wide variety of invasion patterns. Many studies have focused on constrained porous media, in which the grains are fixed in the bed and only the interstitial fluid flows when the gas invades the system. With a free upper boundary, however, the grains can be entrained by the ascending gas or fluid motion, and the competition between the upward motion of grains and sedimentation leads to new patterns. We propose a brief review of the experimental investigation of the dynamics of air rising through a water-saturated, unconstrained granular bed, in both two and three dimensions. After describing the invasion pattern at short and long time, a tentative regime-diagram is proposed. We report original results showing a dependence of the fluidized zone shape, at long times, on the injection flow rate and grain size. A method based on image analysis makes it possible to detect not only the fluidized zone profile in the stationary regime, but also to follow the transient dynamics of its formation. Finally, we describe the degassing dynamics inside the fluidized zone, in the stationary regime. Depending on the experimental conditions, regular bubbling, continuous degassing, intermittent regime or even spontaneous flow-to-fracture transition are observed.

Impact of granular drops

KAUST Repository

Marston, J. O.

2013-07-15

We investigate the spreading and splashing of granular drops during impact with a solid target. The granular drops are formed from roughly spherical balls of sand mixed with water, which is used as a binder to hold the ball together during free-fall. We measure the instantaneous spread diameter for different impact speeds and find that the normalized spread diameter d/D grows as (tV/D)1/2. The speeds of the grains ejected during the “splash” are measured and they rarely exceed twice that of the impact speed.

Impact of granular drops

KAUST Repository

Marston, J. O.; Mansoor, Mohammad M.; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T

2013-01-01

We investigate the spreading and splashing of granular drops during impact with a solid target. The granular drops are formed from roughly spherical balls of sand mixed with water, which is used as a binder to hold the ball together during free-fall. We measure the instantaneous spread diameter for different impact speeds and find that the normalized spread diameter d/D grows as (tV/D)1/2. The speeds of the grains ejected during the “splash” are measured and they rarely exceed twice that of the impact speed.

Viscosity evolution of anaerobic granular sludge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pevere, A.; Guibaud, G.; Hullebusch, van E.D.; Lens, P.N.L.; Baudu, M.

2006-01-01

The evolution of the apparent viscosity at steady shear rate of sieved anaerobic granular sludge (20¿315 ¿m diameter) sampled from different full-scale anaerobic reactors was recorded using rotation tests. The ¿limit viscosity¿ of sieved anaerobic granular sludge was determined from the apparent

Experimental study of the application of two trickle media for inlet air pre-cooling of natural draft dry cooling towers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

He, Suoying; Guan, Zhiqiang; Gurgenci, Hal; Hooman, Kamel; Lu, Yuanshen; Alkhedhair, Abdullah M.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Two trickle media were experimentally studied in a low-speed wind tunnel. • Correlations for cooling efficiency and pressure drop were developed. • Both trickle media were proven to have relatively low pressure drops. • Both trickle media had severe water entrainment at large air velocities. - Abstract: This paper is part two of a broader investigation into pre-cooling the air that enters natural draft dry cooling towers. Evaporative cooling of air is to some extent different from evaporative cooling of water. Two trickle media (Trickle125 and Trickle100) originally designed for evaporative cooling of water were studied in an open-circuit wind tunnel for evaporative cooling of air. Three medium thicknesses (200, 300 and 450 mm) and two water flow rates (10 and 5 l/min per m 2 horizontally exposed surface area) were used in the tests. The air velocities ranged from 0.5 to 3.0 m/s. The cooling efficiency and the pressure drop of the two media were curve fitted to yield a set of correlations. The pressure drop ranges for Trickle125 and Trickle100 were 0.7–50 Pa and 0.6–41.6 Pa, respectively. The cooling efficiencies of Trickle125 and Trickle100 fell within 15.7–55.1% and 11–44.4%, respectively. Generally, media with large effective surfaces provide high cooling efficiencies and high pressure drops; there is a trade-off between cooling efficiency and pressure drop when selecting a particular medium for a specific application. The water entrainment off the media was detected with water-sensitive papers, and both media had severe water entrainment at large air velocities

Critical phenomenon of granular flow on a conveyor belt.

Science.gov (United States)

De-Song, Bao; Xun-Sheng, Zhang; Guang-Lei, Xu; Zheng-Quan, Pan; Xiao-Wei, Tang; Kun-Quan, Lu

2003-06-01

The relationship between the granular wafer movement on a two-dimensional conveyor belt and the size of the exit together with the velocity of the conveyor belt has been studied in the experiment. The result shows that there is a critical speed v(c) for the granular flow when the exit width d is fixed (where d=R/D, D being the diameter of a granular wafers). When vv(c), the flow rate Q is described as Q=Crho(v)(beta)(d-k)(3/2). These are the effects of the interaction among the granular wafers and the change of the states of the granular flow due to the changing of the speed or the exit width d.

Survivable integrated grooming in multi-granularity optical networks

Science.gov (United States)

Wu, Jingjing; Guo, Lei; Wei, Xuetao; Liu, Yejun

2012-05-01

Survivability is an important issue to ensure the service continuity in optical network. At the same time, with the granularity of traffic demands ranging from sub-wavelength-level to wavelength-level, traffic demands need to be aggregated and carried over the network in order to utilize resources effectively. Therefore, multi-granularity grooming is proposed to save the cost and reduce the number of switching ports in Optical-Cross Connects (OXCs). However, current works mostly addressed the survivable wavelength or waveband grooming. Therefore, in this paper, we propose three heuristic algorithms called Multi-granularity Dedicated Protection Grooming (MDPG), Multi-granularity Shared Protection Grooming (MSPG) and Multi-granularity Mixed Protection Grooming (MMPG), respectively. All of them are performed based on the Survivable Multi-granularity Integrated Auxiliary Graph (SMIAG) that includes one Wavelength Integrated Auxiliary Graph (WIAG) for wavelength protection and one waveBand Integrated Auxiliary Graph (BIAG) for waveband protection. Numerical results show that MMPG has the lowest average port-cost, the best resource utilization ratio and the lowest blocking probability among these three algorithms. Compared with MDPG, MSPG has lower average port-cost, better resource utilization ratio and lower blocking probability.

Fine structures and ion images on fresh frozen dried ultrathin sections by transmission electron and scanning ion microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Takaya, K.; Okabe, M.; Sawataishi, M.; Takashima, H.; Yoshida, T.

2003-01-01

Ion microscopy (IM) of air-dried or freeze-dried cryostat and semi-thin cryosections has provided ion images of elements and organic substances in wide areas of the tissue. For reproducible ion images by a shorter time of exposure to the primary ion beam, fresh frozen dried ultrathin sections were prepared by freezing the tissue in propane chilled with liquid nitrogen, cryocut at 60 nm, mounted on grids and silicon wafer pieces, and freeze-dried. Rat Cowper gland and sciatic nerve, bone marrow of the rat administered of lithium carbonate, tree frog and African toad spleen and buffy coat of atopic dermatitis patients were examined. Fine structures and ion images of the corresponding areas in the same or neighboring sections were observed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) followed by sector type and time-of-flight type IM. Cells in the buffy coat contained larger amounts of potassium and magnesium while plasma had larger amounts of sodium and calcium. However, in the tissues, lithium, sodium, magnesium, calcium and potassium were distributed in the cell and calcium showed a granular appearance. A granular cell of the tree frog spleen contained sodium and potassium over the cell and magnesium and calcium were confined to granules

Superconductivity in inhomogeneous granular metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McLean, W.L.

1980-01-01

A model of elongated metal ellipsoids imbedded in a granular metal is treated by an effective medium approach to explain the observed temperature dependence of the normal-state conductivity of superconducting granular aluminum. Josephson tunneling is thus still required to account for the superconductivity. The model predicts the same kind of contrasting behavior on opposite sides of the metal-insulator transition as is found in the recent scaling treatment of Anderson localization

Thermal conductivity of granular porous media: A pore scale modeling approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R. Askari

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Pore scale modeling method has been widely used in the petrophysical studies to estimate macroscopic properties (e.g. porosity, permeability, and electrical resistivity of porous media with respect to their micro structures. Although there is a sumptuous literature about the application of the method to study flow in porous media, there are fewer studies regarding its application to thermal conduction characterization, and the estimation of effective thermal conductivity, which is a salient parameter in many engineering surveys (e.g. geothermal resources and heavy oil recovery. By considering thermal contact resistance, we demonstrate the robustness of the method for predicting the effective thermal conductivity. According to our results obtained from Utah oil sand samples simulations, the simulation of thermal contact resistance is pivotal to grant reliable estimates of effective thermal conductivity. Our estimated effective thermal conductivities exhibit a better compatibility with the experimental data in companion with some famous experimental and analytical equations for the calculation of the effective thermal conductivity. In addition, we reconstruct a porous medium for an Alberta oil sand sample. By increasing roughness, we observe the effect of thermal contact resistance in the decrease of the effective thermal conductivity. However, the roughness effect becomes more noticeable when there is a higher thermal conductivity of solid to fluid ratio. Moreover, by considering the thermal resistance in porous media with different grains sizes, we find that the effective thermal conductivity augments with increased grain size. Our observation is in a reasonable accordance with experimental results. This demonstrates the usefulness of our modeling approach for further computational studies of heat transfer in porous media.

INVESTIGATION OF INNER SHEAR RESISTANCE OF GEOGRIDS BUILT UNDER GRANULAR PROTECTION LAYERS AND RAILWAY BALLAST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sz. Fischer

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Purpose. Using adequate granular materials and layer structures in the railway super- and substructure is able to stabilise railway track geometry. For this purpose special behaviour of above materials has to be determined, e.g. inner shear resistance. Inner shear resistance of granular media with and without geogrid reinforcement in different depths is not known yet. Methodology. The author developed a special laboratory method to measure and define inner shear resistance of granular materials, it is called «multi-level shear box test». This method is adequate to determine inner shear resistance (pushing force vs. depth (distance from the «zero» surface. Two different granular materials: andesite railway ballast (31.5/63 mm and andesite railway protection layer material (0/56 mm, and seven different types of geogrids (GG1…GG7 were used during the tests. Findings. Values of inner shear resistance functions of andesite railway ballast without geogrid reinforcement and reinforced with different types of geogrids and andesite granular protection layer in function of the vertical distance from the geogrid plane were determined with multi-layer shear box tests when the material aggregation is uncompacted and compacted. Only the compacted sample was tested in case of the 0/56 mm protection layer. Cubic polynomial regression functions fitted on the mean values of the measurements are described graphically. Determination coefficients with values of R2>0.97 were resulted in all the cases of regression functions. Based on the polynomial regression functions fitted on the mean values of the test results, three increasing factors were determined in function of the distance measured from the geogrid. Increasing factor «A», «B» and «D». Originality. Multi-level shear box test, developed by the author, is certified unequivocally adequate for determining inner shear resistance of reinforced and unreinforced granular materials, e.g. railway ballast

Penetration in bimodal, polydisperse granular material

KAUST Repository

Kouraytem, Nadia; Thoroddsen, Sigurdur T; Marston, J. O.

2016-01-01

We investigate the impact penetration of spheres into granular media which are compositions of two discrete size ranges, thus creating a polydisperse bimodal material. We examine the penetration depth as a function of the composition (volume fractions of the respective sizes) and impact speed. Penetration depths were found to vary between delta = 0.5D(0) and delta = 7D(0), which, for mono-modal media only, could be correlated in terms of the total drop height, H = h + delta, as in previous studies, by incorporating correction factors for the packing fraction. Bimodal data can only be collapsed by deriving a critical packing fraction for each mass fraction. The data for the mixed grains exhibit a surprising lubricating effect, which was most significant when the finest grains [d(s) similar to O(30) mu m] were added to the larger particles [d(l) similar to O(200 - 500) mu m], with a size ratio, epsilon = d(l)/d(s), larger than 3 and mass fractions over 25%, despite the increased packing fraction. We postulate that the small grains get between the large grains and reduce their intergrain friction, only when their mass fraction is sufficiently large to prevent them from simply rattling in the voids between the large particles. This is supported by our experimental observations of the largest lubrication effect produced by adding small glass beads to a bed of large sand particles with rough surfaces.

Penetration in bimodal, polydisperse granular material

KAUST Repository

Kouraytem, N.

2016-11-07

We investigate the impact penetration of spheres into granular media which are compositions of two discrete size ranges, thus creating a polydisperse bimodal material. We examine the penetration depth as a function of the composition (volume fractions of the respective sizes) and impact speed. Penetration depths were found to vary between delta = 0.5D(0) and delta = 7D(0), which, for mono-modal media only, could be correlated in terms of the total drop height, H = h + delta, as in previous studies, by incorporating correction factors for the packing fraction. Bimodal data can only be collapsed by deriving a critical packing fraction for each mass fraction. The data for the mixed grains exhibit a surprising lubricating effect, which was most significant when the finest grains [d(s) similar to O(30) mu m] were added to the larger particles [d(l) similar to O(200 - 500) mu m], with a size ratio, epsilon = d(l)/d(s), larger than 3 and mass fractions over 25%, despite the increased packing fraction. We postulate that the small grains get between the large grains and reduce their intergrain friction, only when their mass fraction is sufficiently large to prevent them from simply rattling in the voids between the large particles. This is supported by our experimental observations of the largest lubrication effect produced by adding small glass beads to a bed of large sand particles with rough surfaces.

The respective roles of bulk friction and slip velocity during a granular mass flow

Science.gov (United States)

Staron, Lydie

2016-04-01

Catastrophic granular mass flows form an important natural hazard. Mitigation has motivated numerous studies on the properties of natural granular flows, and in particular, their ability to travel long distances away from the release point. The mobility of granular flows is commonly characterised through the definition of rheological properties and effective friction. Yet, it is widely accepted that the description in term of effective friction may include various lubrication effects, softening at the base of the flow and large slip velocities being a most likely one. In this case, flow bulk properties may obliterate the flow boundary conditions. In this contribution, we investigate how disentangling bulk properties from boundary conditions may improve our understanding of the flow. Using discrete simulations, we induce increasing slip velocities in different flow configurations. We show that increased mobility may be achieved without changing bulk properties. The results are interpreted in terms of a Robin-Navier slip condition and implemented in a continuum Navier-Stokes solver. We quantify the respective role of rheological bulk properties and boundary conditions in the general behaviour of a transient mass flow. We show that omitting the description of boundary conditions leads to misinterpretation of the flow properties. The outcome is discussed in terms of models reliability. References P.-Y. Lagrée et al, The granular column collapse as a continuum: validity of a two-dimensional Navier-Stokes model with the mu(I) rheology, J. Fluid Mech. 686, 378-408 (2011) L. Staron and E. Lajeunesse, Understanding how the volume affects the mobility of dry debris flows, Geophys. Res. Lett. 36, L12402 (2009) L. Staron, Mobility of long-runout rock flows: a discrete numerical investigation, Geophys. J. Int. 172, 455-463 (2008)

Nonlinear coherent structures in granular crystals

Science.gov (United States)

Chong, C.; Porter, Mason A.; Kevrekidis, P. G.; Daraio, C.

2017-10-01

The study of granular crystals, which are nonlinear metamaterials that consist of closely packed arrays of particles that interact elastically, is a vibrant area of research that combines ideas from disciplines such as materials science, nonlinear dynamics, and condensed-matter physics. Granular crystals exploit geometrical nonlinearities in their constitutive microstructure to produce properties (such as tunability and energy localization) that are not conventional to engineering materials and linear devices. In this topical review, we focus on recent experimental, computational, and theoretical results on nonlinear coherent structures in granular crystals. Such structures—which include traveling solitary waves, dispersive shock waves, and discrete breathers—have fascinating dynamics, including a diversity of both transient features and robust, long-lived patterns that emerge from broad classes of initial data. In our review, we primarily discuss phenomena in one-dimensional crystals, as most research to date has focused on such scenarios, but we also present some extensions to two-dimensional settings. Throughout the review, we highlight open problems and discuss a variety of potential engineering applications that arise from the rich dynamic response of granular crystals.

On inconsistency in frictional granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Alart, Pierre; Renouf, Mathieu

2018-04-01

Numerical simulation of granular systems is often based on a discrete element method. The nonsmooth contact dynamics approach can be used to solve a broad range of granular problems, especially involving rigid bodies. However, difficulties could be encountered and hamper successful completion of some simulations. The slow convergence of the nonsmooth solver may sometimes be attributed to an ill-conditioned system, but the convergence may also fail. The prime aim of the present study was to identify situations that hamper the consistency of the mathematical problem to solve. Some simple granular systems were investigated in detail while reviewing and applying the related theoretical results. A practical alternative is briefly analyzed and tested.

Storage and discharge of a granular fluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Pacheco-Martinez, Hector; van Gerner, Henk Jan; Ruiz-Suárez, J C

2008-02-01

Experiments and computational simulations are carried out to study the behavior of a granular column in a silo whose walls are able to vibrate horizontally. The column is brought to a steady fluidized state and it behaves similar to a hydrostatic system. We study the dynamics of the granular discharge through openings at the bottom of the silo in order to search for a Torricelli-like behavior. We show that the flow rate scales with the wall induced shear rate, and at high rates, the granular bed indeed discharges similar to a viscous fluid.

Characterization of Unbound Granular Materials for Pavements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Araya, A.A.

2011-01-01

This research is focused on the characterization of the mechanical behavior of unbound granular road base materials (UGMs). An extensive laboratory investigation is described, in which various methods for determination of the mechanical properties of granular materials are examined for their

Transport of ARS-labeled hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in saturated granular media is influenced by surface charge variability even in the presence of humic acid

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dengjun; Bradford, Scott A.; Harvey, Ronald W.; Hao, Xiuzhen; Zhou, Dongmei

2012-01-01

Hydroxyapatite nanoparticle (nHAP) is increasingly being used to remediate soils and water polluted by metals and radionuclides. The transport and retention of Alizarin red S (ARS)-labeled nHAP were investigated in water-saturated granular media. Experiments were carried out over a range of ionic strength (Ic, 0–50 mM NaCl) conditions in the presence of 10 mg L−1 humic acid. The transport of ARS-nHAP was found to decrease with increasing suspension Ic in part, because of enhanced aggregation and chemical heterogeneity. The retention profiles (RPs) of ARS-nHAP exhibited hyperexponential shapes (a decreasing rate of retention with increasing transport distance) for all test conditions, suggesting that some of the attachment was occurring under unfavorable conditions. Surface charge heterogeneities on the collector surfaces and especially within the ARS-nHAP population were contributing causes for the hyperexponential RPs. Consideration of the effect(s) of Ic in the presence of HA is needed to improve the efficacy of nHAP for scavenging metals and actinides in real soils and groundwater environments.

Axial segregation of granular media rotated in a drum mixer: Pattern evolution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, K.M.; Kakalios, J.; Caprihan, A.

1997-01-01

In the traditional axial segregation effect, a homogeneous mixture of different types of granular material rotated in a drum mixer segregates into surface bands of relatively pure single concentrations along the axis of rotation. This effect primarily has been studied with respect to the initial segregation. However, the initial pattern is not stable, but evolves in time with continued rotation through metastable states of fewer and fewer bands. We describe two experimental studies of this evolution that provide a more complete picture of the dynamics involved in the pattern progression. The use of a charge coupled device camera in conjunction with digital analysis techniques provides a quantitative measure of the state of the surface as a function of time, while magnetic resonance imaging techniques provide a noninvasive method for studying the segregation beneath the surface. These methods indicate that the underlying mechanisms for the pattern evolution may originate in the bulk of the material, beneath the avalanching surface. copyright 1997 The American Physical Society

Granular Gases: Probing the Boundaries of Hydrodynamics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goldhirsch, I.

1999-01-01

The dissipative nature of the particle interactions in granular systems renders granular gases mesoscopic and bearing some similarities to regular gases in the ''continuum transition regime'' where shear rates and/or thermal gradients are very large). The following properties of granular gases support the above claim: (i). Mean free times are of the same order as macroscopic time scales (inverse shear rates); (ii). Mean free paths can be macroscopic and comparable to the system's dimensions; (iii). Typical flows are supersonic; (iv). Shear rates are typically ''large''; (v). Stress fields are scale (resolution) dependent; (vi). Burnett and super-Burnett corrections to both the constitutive relations and the boundary conditions are of importance; (vii). Single particle distribution functions can be far from Gaussian. It is concluded that while hydrodynamic descriptions of granular gases are relevant, they are probing the boundaries of applicability of hydrodynamics and perhaps slightly beyond

Use of gamma radiation for preparation of nutrient culture media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Speranskaya, I.D.; Tumanyan, M.A.; Mironova, L.L.

1977-01-01

A technique was developed for sterilization of nutrient culture media using ..gamma..-radiation. For this purpose, dry preparations were exposed to 3 to 6 Mrad radiation, then dissolved in sterile distilled water. The quality of media and solutions thus obtained is as good as that of preparations sterilized by filtration. The advantage of the proposed sterilization method is that liquid media can be rapidly prepared and dry sterile media can be stored at room temperature for long periods of time.

Uses of γ-radiation for preparing culture media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Speranskaya, I.D.; Tumanyan, M.A.; Mironova, L.L.

1977-01-01

A technique has been developed for sterilizing the culture media by γ-radiation. For this purpose, dry preparations were exposed to doses of 3 to 6 Mrad and then dissolved in sterile distilled water. The quality of the preparations prepared in such a way is not inferior to that of the preparations sterilized by filtering. The advantage of the proposed technique is that it is possible to prepare liquid media quickly and to store dry sterile media for a long time at room temperature

Granular Silo collapse: an experimental study

Science.gov (United States)

Clement, Eric; Gutierriez, Gustavo; Boltenhagen, Philippe; Lanuza, Jose

2008-03-01

We present an experimental work that develop some basic insight into the pre-buckling behavior and the buckling transition toward plastic collapse of a granular silo. We study different patterns of deformation generated on thin paper cylindrical shells during granular discharge. We study the collapse threshold for different bed height, flow rates and grain sizes. We compare the patterns that appear during the discharge of spherical beads, with those obtained in the axially compressed cylindrical shells. When the height of the granular column is close to the collapse threshold, we describe a ladder like pattern that rises around the cylinder surface in a spiral path of diamond shaped localizations, and develops into a plastic collapsing fold that grows around the collapsing silo.

Gravity-driven, dry granular flows over a loose bed in stationary and homogeneous conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Meninno, Sabrina; Armanini, Aronne; Larcher, Michele

2018-02-01

Flows involving solid particulates have been widely studied in recent years, but their dynamics are still a complex issue to model because they strongly depend on the interaction with the boundary conditions. We report on laboratory investigations regarding homogeneous and steady flows of identical particles over a loose bed in a rectangular channel. Accurate measurements were carried out through imaging techniques to estimate profiles of the mean velocity, solid concentration, and granular temperature for a large set of flow rates and widths. Vertical and transversal structures observed in the flow change as interparticle interactions become more collisional, and they depend on the bottom over which the flow develops. The lateral confinement has a remarkable effect on the flow, especially for narrow channels compared with the grain size, and a hydraulic analogy is able to show how the walls influence the mechanisms of friction and energy dissipation.

Development of Approaches to Creation of Active Vibration Control System in Problems of the Dynamics for Granular Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khomenko Andrei P.

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The article deals with the development of mathematical models and evaluation criteria of the vibration field in the dynamic interactions of the elements of the vibrational technological machines for the processes of vibrational strengthening of long-length parts with help of a steel balls working medium. The study forms a theoretical understanding of the modes of motions of material particles in interaction with a vibrating surface of the working body of the vibration machine. The generalized approach to the assessment of the dynamic quality of the work of vibrating machines in multiple modes of tossing, when the period of free flight of particles is a multiple of the period of the surface oscillations of the working body, is developed in the article. For the correction of vibration field of the working body, the characteristics of dynamic interactions of granular elements of the medium are taken into account using original sensors. The sensors that can detect different particularities of interaction of the granular medium elements at different points of the working body are proposed to evaluate the deviation from a homogeneous and one-dimensional mode of vibration field. Specially developed sensors are able to register interactions between a single granule, a system of granules in filamentous structures, and multipoint interactions of the elements in a close-spaced cylindrical structure. The system of regularization of the structure of vibration fields based on the introduction of motion translation devices is proposed using the multi-point sensor locations on the working body. The article refers to analytical approaches of the theory of vibration displacements. For the experimental data assessment, the methods of statistical analysis are applied. It is shown that the peculiar features of the motion of granular medium registered by the sensors can be used to build active control systems of field vibration.

Continuum viscoplastic simulation of a granular column collapse on large slopes : μ(I) rheology and lateral wall effects

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Nathan; Mangeney, Anne; Ionescu, Ioan; Bouchut, Francois

2016-04-01

The description of the mechanical behaviour of granular flows and in particular of the static/flowing transition is still an open and challenging issue with strong implication for hazard assessment [{Delannay et al.}, 2016]. In particular, {detailed quantitative} comparison between numerical models and observations is necessary to go further in this direction. We simulate here dry granular flows resulting from the collapse of granular columns on an inclined channel (from horizontal to 22^o) and compare precisely the results with laboratory experiments performed by {Mangeney et al.} [2010] and {Farin et al.} [2014]. Incompressibility is assumed despite the dilatancy observed in the experiments (up to 10%). The 2-D model is based on the so-called μ(I) rheology that induces a Drucker-Prager yield stress and a variable viscosity. A nonlinear Coulomb friction term, representing the friction on the lateral walls of the channel is added to the model. We demonstrate that this term is crucial to accurately reproduce granular collapses on slopes higher than 10o whereas it remains of little effect on horizontal slope [{Martin et al.}, 2016]. We show that the use of a variable or a constant viscosity does not change significantly the results provided that these viscosities are of the same order [{Ionescu et al.}, 2015]. However, only a fine tuning of the constant viscosity (η = 1 Pa.s) makes it possible to predict the slow propagation phase observed experimentally on large slopes. This was not possible when using, without tuning, the variable viscosity calculated from the μ(I) rheology with the parameters estimated from experiments. Finally, we discuss the well-posedness of the model with variable and constant viscosity based in particular on the development of shear bands observed in the numerical simulations. References Delannay, R., Valance, A., Mangeney, A., Roche, O., and Richard, P., 2016. Granular and particle-laden flows: from laboratory experiments to field

An Emotional Agent Model Based on Granular Computing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jun Hu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Affective computing has a very important significance for fulfilling intelligent information processing and harmonious communication between human being and computers. A new model for emotional agent is proposed in this paper to make agent have the ability of handling emotions, based on the granular computing theory and the traditional BDI agent model. Firstly, a new emotion knowledge base based on granular computing for emotion expression is presented in the model. Secondly, a new emotional reasoning algorithm based on granular computing is proposed. Thirdly, a new emotional agent model based on granular computing is presented. Finally, based on the model, an emotional agent for patient assistant in hospital is realized, experiment results show that it is efficient to handle simple emotions.

Quantifying the Micromechanical Effects of Variable Cement in Granular Porous Media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Goodwin, Laurel B.; Boutt David F.

2010-02-18

The mechanical and hydrologic behavior of clastic rocks and sediments is fundamentally controlled by variables such as grain size and shape, sorting, grain and cement mineralogy, porosity, and %cement - parameters that are not used directly in field-scale models of coupled flow and deformation. To improve our understanding of the relationship between these micromechanical properties and bulk behavior we focused on (1) relating detailed, quantitative characterization of the grain-pore systems to both hydrologic and mechanical properties of a suite of variably quartz-cemented quartz arenite samples and (2) the use of a combination of discrete element method (DEM) and poroelastic models parameterized by data from the natural samples to isolate and compare the influence of changes in the mechanical and hydrologic properties of granular porous media due to changes in degree of cementation. Quartz overgrowths, the most common form of authigenic cements in sandstones, are responsible for significant porosity and permeability reduction. The distribution of quartz overgrowths is controlled by available pore space and the crystallographic orientations of individual quartz grains. Study of the St. Peter Sandstone allowed evaluation of the relative effects of quartz cementation and compaction on final grain and pore morphology, showing that progressive quartz cementation modifies the grain framework in consistent, predictable ways. Detailed microstructural characterization and multiple regression analyses show that with progressive diagenesis, the number and length of grain contacts increases as the number of pores increases, the number of large, well-connected pores decreases, and pores become rounder. These changes cause a decrease in pore size variability that leads to a decrease in bulk permeability and both stiffening and strengthening of the grain framework. The consistent nature of these changes allows us to predict variations in hydrologic and mechanical properties

Assessing continuum postulates in simulations of granular flow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rycroft, Chris; Kamrin, Ken; Bazant, Martin

2008-08-26

Continuum mechanics relies on the fundamental notion of a mesoscopic volume"element" in which properties averaged over discrete particles obey deterministic relationships. Recent work on granular materials suggests a continuum law may be inapplicable, revealing inhomogeneities at the particle level, such as force chains and slow cage breaking. Here, we analyze large-scale three-dimensional Discrete-Element Method (DEM) simulations of different granular flows and show that an approximate"granular element" defined at the scale of observed dynamical correlations (roughly three to five particle diameters) has a reasonable continuum interpretation. By viewing all the simulations as an ensemble of granular elements which deform and move with the flow, we can track material evolution at a local level. Our results confirm some of the hypotheses of classical plasticity theory while contradicting others and suggest a subtle physical picture of granular failure, combining liquid-like dependence on deformation rate and solid-like dependence on strain. Our computational methods and results can be used to guide the development of more realistic continuum models, based on observed local relationships betweenaverage variables.

Use of industrial by-products and natural media to adsorb nutrients, metals and organic carbon from drinking water.

Science.gov (United States)

Grace, Maebh A; Healy, Mark G; Clifford, Eoghan

2015-06-15

Filtration technology is well established in the water sector but is limited by inability to remove targeted contaminants, found in surface and groundwater, which can be damaging to human health. This study optimises the design of filters by examining the efficacy of seven media (fly ash, bottom ash, Bayer residue, granular blast furnace slag (GBS), pyritic fill, granular activated carbon (GAC) and zeolite), to adsorb nitrate, ammonium, total organic carbon (TOC), aluminium, copper (Cu) and phosphorus. Each medium and contaminant was modelled to a Langmuir, Freundlich or Temkin adsorption isotherm, and the impact of pH and temperature (ranging from 10 °C to 29 °C) on their performance was quantified. As retention time within water filters is important in contaminant removal, kinetic studies were carried out to observe the adsorption behaviour over a 24h period. Fly ash and Bayer residue had good TOC, nutrient and Cu adsorption capacity. Granular blast furnace slag and pyritic fill, previously un-investigated in water treatment, showed adsorption potential for all contaminants. In general, pH or temperature adjustment was not necessary to achieve effective adsorption. Kinetic studies showed that at least 60% of adsorption had occurred after 8h for all media. These media show potential for use in a multifunctional water treatment unit for the targeted treatment of specific contaminants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nonlocal approach to the analysis of the stress distribution in granular systems. I. Theoretical framework

Science.gov (United States)

Kenkre, V. M.; Scott, J. E.; Pease, E. A.; Hurd, A. J.

1998-05-01

A theoretical framework for the analysis of the stress distribution in granular materials is presented. It makes use of a transformation of the vertical spatial coordinate into a formal time variable and the subsequent study of a generally non-Markoffian, i.e., memory-possessing (nonlocal) propagation equation. Previous treatments are obtained as particular cases corresponding to, respectively, wavelike and diffusive limits of the general evolution. Calculations are presented for stress propagation in bounded and unbounded media. They can be used to obtain desired features such as a prescribed stress distribution within the compact.

Granular Materials and Risks In ISRU

Science.gov (United States)

Behringer, Robert P.; Wilkinson, R. Allen

2004-01-01

Working with soil, sand, powders, ores, cement and sintered bricks, excavating, grading construction sites, driving off-road, transporting granules in chutes and pipes, sifting gravel, separating solids from gases, and using hoppers are so routine that it seems straightforward to execute these operations on the Moon and Mars as we do on Earth. We discuss how little these processes are understood and point out the nature of trial-and-error practices that are used in today's massive over-design. Nevertheless, such designs have a high failure rate. Implementation and extensive incremental scaling up of industrial processes are routine because of the inadequate predictive tools for design. We present a number of pragmatic scenarios where granular materials play a role, the risks involved, what some of the basic issues are, and what understanding is needed to greatly reduce the risks. This talk will focus on a particular class of granular flow issues, those that pertain to dense materials, their physics, and the failure problems associated with them. In particular, key issues where basic predictability is lacking include stability of soils for the support of vehicles and facilities, ability to control the flow of dense materials (jamming and flooding/unjamming at the wrong time), the ability to predict stress profiles (hence create reliable designs) for containers such as bunkers or silos. In particular, stress fluctuations, which are not accounted for in standard granular design models, can be very large as granular materials flows, and one result is frequent catastrophic failure of granular devices.

Consideration of reinforcement mechanism in the short fiber mixing granular materials by granular element simulations

Science.gov (United States)

Mori, Kentaro; Kaneko, Kenji; Hashizume, Yutaka

2017-06-01

The short fiber mixing method is well known as one of the method to improve the strength of gran- ular soils in geotechnical engineering. Mechanical properties of the short fiber mixing granular materials are influenced by many factors, such as the mixture ratio of the short fiber, the material of short fiber, the length, and the orientation. In particular, the mixture ratio of the short fibers is very important in mixture design. In the past study, we understood that the strength is reduced by too much short fiber mixing by a series of tri-axial compression experiments. Namely, there is "optimum mixture ratio" in the short fiber mixing granular soils. In this study, to consider the mechanism of occurrence of the optimum mixture ratio, we carried out the numerical experiments by granular element method. As the results, we can understand that the strength decrease when too much grain-fiber contact points exist, because a friction coefficient is smaller than the grain-grain contact points.

Storage and discharge of a granular fluid

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pacheco-Martinez, Hector; van Gerner, H.J.; Ruiz-Suarez, J.C.

2008-01-01

Experiments and computational simulations are carried out to study the behavior of a granular column in a silo whose walls are able to vibrate horizontally. The column is brought to a steady fluidized state and it behaves similar to a hydrostatic system. We study the dynamics of the granular

Developing resilient green roofs in a dry climate.

Science.gov (United States)

Razzaghmanesh, M; Beecham, S; Brien, C J

2014-08-15

Living roofs are an emerging green infrastructure technology that can potentially be used to ameliorate both climate change and urban heat island effects. There is not much information regarding the design of green roofs for dry climates and so the aim of this study was to develop low maintenance and unfertilized green roofs for a dry climate. This paper describes the effects of four important elements of green roofs namely slope, depth, growing media and plant species and their possible interactions in terms of plant growth responses in a dry climate. Sixteen medium-scale green roofs were set up and monitored during a one year period. This experiment consisted of twelve vegetated platforms and four non-vegetated platforms as controls. The design for the experiment was a split-split-plot design in which the factors Slope (1° and 25°) and Depth (100mm, 300 mm) were randomized to the platforms (main plots). Root depth and volume, average height of plants, final dry biomass and ground cover, relative growth rate, final dry shoot-root ratio, water use efficiency and leaf succulence were studied during a twelve month period. The results showed little growth of the plants in media type A, whilst the growth was significant in both media types B and C. On average, a 90% survival rate of plants was observed. Also the growth indices indicated that some plants can grow efficiently in the harsh environment created by green roofs in a dry climate. The root growth pattern showed that retained water in the drainage layer is an alternative source of water for plants. It was also shown that stormwater can be used as a source of irrigation water for green roofs during six months of the year at the study site. In summary, mild sloping intensive systems containing media type C and planted with either Chrysocephalum apiculatum or Disphyma crassifolium showed the best performance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The role of fluid viscosity in an immersed granular collapse

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Geng Chao; Kwok, Chung Yee; Sobral, Yuri Dumaresq

2017-06-01

Instabilities of immersed slopes and cliffs can lead to catastrophic events that involve a sudden release of huge soil mass. The scaled deposit height and runout distance are found to follow simple power laws when a granular column collapses on a horizontal plane. However, if the granular column is submerged in a fluid, the mobility of the granular collapse due to high inertia effects will be reduced by fluid-particle interactions. In this study, the effects of fluid viscosity on granular collapse is investigated qualitatively by adopting a numerical approach based on the coupled lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) and discrete element method (DEM). It is found that the granular collapse can be dramatically slowed down due to the presence of viscous fluids. For the considered granular configuration, when the fluid viscosity increases. the runout distance decreases and the final deposition shows a larger deposit angle.

The role of fluid viscosity in an immersed granular collapse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yang Geng Chao

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Instabilities of immersed slopes and cliffs can lead to catastrophic events that involve a sudden release of huge soil mass. The scaled deposit height and runout distance are found to follow simple power laws when a granular column collapses on a horizontal plane. However, if the granular column is submerged in a fluid, the mobility of the granular collapse due to high inertia effects will be reduced by fluid-particle interactions. In this study, the effects of fluid viscosity on granular collapse is investigated qualitatively by adopting a numerical approach based on the coupled lattice Boltzmann method (LBM and discrete element method (DEM. It is found that the granular collapse can be dramatically slowed down due to the presence of viscous fluids. For the considered granular configuration, when the fluid viscosity increases. the runout distance decreases and the final deposition shows a larger deposit angle.

Erosion by sliding wear in granular flows: Experiments with realistic contact forces

Science.gov (United States)

Stark, C. P.; Hung, C. Y.; Smith, B.; Li, L.; Grinspun, E.; Capart, H.

2015-12-01

Debris flow erosion is a powerful and sometimes dominant process in steep channels. Despite its importance, this phenomenon is relatively little studied in the lab. The large drum experiments of Hsu are a notable exception, in which almost-field-scale impact forces were generated at the head of a synthetic debris flow whose properties (grain size, proportion of fines, etc) were varied widely.A key challenge in these and similar experiments is to explore how erosion rate varies as a function of the scale of the flow (thereby varying inertial stresses, impact forces, etc). The geometrical limitations of most lab experiments, and their short run time, severely limit the scope of such explorations.We achieve this scale exploration in a set of drum erosion experiments by varying effective gravity across several orders of magnitude (1g, 10g, 100g) in a geotechnical centrifuge. By half-filling our 40cm-diameter drum with dry 2.3mm grains, placing a synthetic rock plate at the back and a glass plate at the front 3cm apart, and rotating the drum at 1-50rpm, we simulate wear in a channelized dry granular flow. In contrast to Hsu's experiments, we focus on sliding wear erosion at the flow boundary rather than impact/frictional wear at the flow head. By varying effective gravity from 1g-100g we can tune the pressure exerted by the grains at the boundary without having to change the scale of our apparatus. Using a recently developed depth-averaged, kinetic-energy closure theory for granular flow, we can simultaneously tune the drum rotation rate such that the flow dynamics remain invariant. We can thereby explore how changing the scale of a granular flow, and thus the contact forces of grains on the boundary, controls the rate of rock erosion. Using a small apparatus we can simulate the erosion generated by debris flows several meters deep involving grains up to 10cm in diameter.Our results suggest that sliding wear is the main erosion process, and are consistent with Archard

Energy decay in a granular gas collapse

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Almazán, Lidia; Serero, Dan; Pöschel, Thorsten; Salueña, Clara

2017-01-01

An inelastic hard ball bouncing repeatedly off the ground comes to rest in finite time by performing an infinite number of collisions. Similarly, a granular gas under the influence of external gravity, condenses at the bottom of the confinement due to inelastic collisions. By means of hydrodynamical simulations, we find that the condensation process of a granular gas reveals a similar dynamics as the bouncing ball. Our result is in agreement with both experiments and particle simulations, but disagrees with earlier simplified hydrodynamical description. Analyzing the result in detail, we find that the adequate modeling of pressure plays a key role in continuum modeling of granular matter. (paper)

Periurethral granular cell tumor: a case report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jeong Kon; Choi, Hyo Gyeong; Cho, Kyoung Sik

1998-01-01

Granular cell tumors are uncommon soft tissue tumors which arise as solitary or multiple masses. Lesions commonly arise in the head, neck, and chest wall, but can occur in any part of the body. To our knowledge, periurethral granular cell tumor has not been previously reported. We report one such case

Granular motor in the non-Brownian limit

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oyarte Galvez, Loreto Alejandra; van der Meer, Roger M.

2016-01-01

In this work we experimentally study a granular rotor which is similar to the famous Smoluchowski–Feynman device and which consists of a rotor with four vanes immersed in a granular gas. Each side of the vanes can be composed of two different materials, creating a rotational asymmetry and turning

Long runout landslides: a solution from granular mechanics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanislav eParez

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Large landslides exhibit surprisingly long runout distances compared to a rigid body sliding from the same slope, and the mechanism of this phenomena has been studied for decades. This paper shows that the observed long runouts can be explained quite simply via a granular pile flowing downhill, while collapsing and spreading, without the need for frictional weakening that has traditionally been suggested to cause long runouts. Kinematics of the granular flow is divided into center of mass motion and spreading due to flattening of the flowing mass. We solve the center of mass motion analytically based on a frictional law valid for granular flow, and find that center of mass runout is similar to that of a rigid body. Based on the shape of deposits observed in experiments with collapsing granular columns and numerical simulations of landslides, we derive a spreading length Rf~V^1/3. Spreading of a granular pile, leading to a deposit angle much lower than the angle of repose or the dynamic friction angle, is shown to be an important, often dominating, contribution to the total runout distance, accounting for the long runouts observed for natural landslides.

Distrofia corneal granular

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexeide de la C Castillo Pérez

Full Text Available Las distrofias corneales constituyen un conjunto de enfermedades que presentan, en su mayoría, una baja incidencia y se caracterizan por acúmulo de material hialino o amiloide que disminuyen la transparencia corneal. La distrofia granular es una enfermedad autosómica dominante que presenta opacidades grises en el estroma superficial central de la córnea y se hacen visibles en la primera y segunda décadas de la vida, lo que provoca disminución de la visión más significativa cerca de los 40 años de edad. Presentamos dos casos clínicos de distrofia granular en pacientes hermanos de diferentes sexos, quienes acudieron a la consulta y refirieron visión nublada. El estudio de la historia familiar nos ayuda en el correcto diagnóstico y la biomicroscopia constituye el elemento más importante.

Reactive granular optics for passive tracking of the sun

Science.gov (United States)

Frenkel, I.; Niv, A.

2017-08-01

The growing need for cost-effective renewable energy sources is hampered by the stagnation in solar cell technology, thus preventing a substantial reduction in the module and energy-production price. Lowering the energy-production cost could be achieved by using modules with efficiency. One of the possible means for increasing the module efficiency is concentrated photovoltaics (CPV). CPV, however, requires complex and accurate active tracking of the sun that reduces much of its cost-effectiveness. Here, we propose a passive tracking scheme based on a reactive optical device. The optical reaction is achieved by a new kind of light activated mechanical force that acts on micron-sized particles. This optical force allows the formation of granular disordered optical media that can be switched from being opaque to become transparent based on the intensity of light it interacts with. Such media gives rise to an efficient passive tracking scheme that when combined with an external optical cavity forms a new solar power conversion approach. Being external to the cell itself, this approach is indifferent to the type of semiconducting material that is used, as well as to other aspects of the cell design. This, in turn, liberates the cell layout from its optical constraints thus paving the way to higher efficiencies at lower module price.

Small-signal analysis of granular semiconductors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varpula, Aapo; Sinkkonen, Juha; Novikov, Sergey, E-mail: aapo.varpula@tkk.f [Department of Micro and Nanosciences, Aalto University, PO Box 13500, FI-00076 Aalto, Espoo (Finland)

2010-11-01

The small-signal ac response of granular n-type semiconductors is calculated analytically using the drift-diffusion theory when electronic trapping at grain boundaries is present. An electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) model of a granular n-type semiconductor is presented. The analytical model is verified with numerical simulation performed by SILVACO ATLAS. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results is very good in a broad frequency range at low dc bias voltages.

Small-signal analysis of granular semiconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Varpula, Aapo; Sinkkonen, Juha; Novikov, Sergey

2010-01-01

The small-signal ac response of granular n-type semiconductors is calculated analytically using the drift-diffusion theory when electronic trapping at grain boundaries is present. An electrical equivalent circuit (EEC) model of a granular n-type semiconductor is presented. The analytical model is verified with numerical simulation performed by SILVACO ATLAS. The agreement between the analytical and numerical results is very good in a broad frequency range at low dc bias voltages.

Applicability and trends of anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lim, Seung Joo; Kim, Tak-Hyun

2014-01-01

Anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes have been continuously developed, although the anaerobic sludge granulation process was not clearly understood. In this review, an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB), an expanded granule sludge blanket (EGSB), and a static granular bed reactor (SGBR) were introduced as components of a representative anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes. The characteristics and application trends of each reactor were presented. The UASB reactor was developed in the late 1970s and its use has been rapidly widespread due to the excellent performance. With the active granules, this reactor is able to treat various high-strength wastewaters as well as municipal wastewater. Most soluble industrial wastewaters can be efficiently applied using a UASB. The EGSB reactor was developed owing to give more chance to contact between wastewater and the granules. Dispersed sludge is separated from mature granules using the rapid upward velocity in this reactor. The EGSB reactor shows the excellent performance in treating low-strength and/or high-strength wastewater, especially under low temperatures. The SGBR, developed at Iowa State University, is one of anaerobic granular sludge treatment processes. Although the configuration of the SGBR is very simple, the performance of this system is similar to that of the UASB or EGSB reactor. The anaerobic sludge granulation processes showed excellent performance for various wastewaters at a broad range of organic loading rate in lab-, pilot-scale tests. This leads to erect thousands of full-scale granular processes, which has been widely operated around the world. -- Highlights: • Anaerobic sludge granulation is a key parameter for maintaining granular processes. • Anaerobic granular digestion processes are applicable for various wastewaters. • The UASB is an economic high-rate anaerobic granular process. • The EGSB can treat high-strength wastewater using expanding granules. • The SGBR is

Oblique shock waves in granular flows over bluff bodies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gopan Nandu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Granular flows around an object have been the focus of numerous analytical, experimental and simulation studies. The structure and nature of the oblique shock wave developed when a quasi-two dimensional flow of spherical granular particles streams past an immersed, fixed cylindrical obstacle forms the focus of this study. The binary granular mixture, consisting of particles of the same diameter but different material properties, is investigated by using a modified LIGGGHTS package as the simulation engine. Variations in the solid fraction and granular temperature within the resulting flow are studied. The Mach number is calculated and is used to distinguish between the subsonic and the supersonic regions of the bow shock.

76 FR 8774 - Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From Japan

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-15

... INTERNATIONAL TRADE COMMISSION [Investigation No. 731-TA-386 (Third Review)] Granular Polytetrafluoroethylene Resin From Japan AGENCY: United States International Trade Commission. ACTION: Termination of five... revocation of the antidumping duty order on granular polytetrafluoroethylene resin from Japan would be likely...

Traffic and Granular Flow '11

CERN Document Server

Buslaev, Alexander; Bugaev, Alexander; Yashina, Marina; Schadschneider, Andreas; Schreckenberg, Michael; TGF11

2013-01-01

This book continues the biannual series of conference proceedings, which has become a classical reference resource in traffic and granular research alike. It addresses new developments at the interface between physics, engineering and computational science. Complex systems, where many simple agents, be they vehicles or particles, give rise to surprising and fascinating phenomena.   The contributions collected in these proceedings cover several research fields, all of which deal with transport. Topics include highway, pedestrian and internet traffic, granular matter, biological transport, transport networks, data acquisition, data analysis and technological applications. Different perspectives, i.e. modeling, simulations, experiments and phenomenological observations, are considered.

A particle-based method for granular flow simulation

KAUST Repository

Chang, Yuanzhang; Bao, Kai; Zhu, Jian; Wu, Enhua

2012-01-01

We present a new particle-based method for granular flow simulation. In the method, a new elastic stress term, which is derived from a modified form of the Hooke's law, is included in the momentum governing equation to handle the friction of granular materials. Viscosity force is also added to simulate the dynamic friction for the purpose of smoothing the velocity field and further maintaining the simulation stability. Benefiting from the Lagrangian nature of the SPH method, large flow deformation can be well handled easily and naturally. In addition, a signed distance field is also employed to enforce the solid boundary condition. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and efficient for handling the flow of granular materials, and different kinds of granular behaviors can be well simulated by adjusting just one parameter. © 2012 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

A particle-based method for granular flow simulation

KAUST Repository

Chang, Yuanzhang

2012-03-16

We present a new particle-based method for granular flow simulation. In the method, a new elastic stress term, which is derived from a modified form of the Hooke\\'s law, is included in the momentum governing equation to handle the friction of granular materials. Viscosity force is also added to simulate the dynamic friction for the purpose of smoothing the velocity field and further maintaining the simulation stability. Benefiting from the Lagrangian nature of the SPH method, large flow deformation can be well handled easily and naturally. In addition, a signed distance field is also employed to enforce the solid boundary condition. The experimental results show that the proposed method is effective and efficient for handling the flow of granular materials, and different kinds of granular behaviors can be well simulated by adjusting just one parameter. © 2012 Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Neurohypophysis granular cell tumours. Upon neurohypophysis rare tumours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barrande, G.; Kujas, M.; Gancel, A.; Turpin, G.; Bruckert, E.; Kuhn, J.M.; Luton, J.P.

1995-01-01

Granular cell tumours of neurohypophysis are rare. These tumours are more often encountered as incidental autopsy findings seen in up to 17 % of unselected adult autopsy cases. There are few reports of para-sellar granular cell tumours large enough to cause symptoms. We present three cases of neurohypophysis granular cell tumour and a review of the literature. In one patient, the asymptomatic granular cell tumour was incidentally discovered at surgical removal of a corticotrophic micro-adenoma. The remaining 2 patients had a symptomatic tumour which caused neurological symptoms such as visual disturbance and headaches and endocrine disorders such as hypopituitarism or hyper-prolactinaemia. In these 2 cases, computerized tomography showed a well-circumscribed, contrast-enhanced, intra-sellar and supra-sellar mass. Magnetic resonance imaging demonstrated an isointense gadolinium-enhanced mass in T1-weighted-images. Trans-sphenoidal partial resection was performed and histology was interpreted as a granular cell tumour. The immunohistochemical study was positive for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GEAP) and neuron specific enolase (NSE) in 1 of the 2 tumours and positive for S100 protein and vimentin in both tumours but negative for CD68. The histogenesis of neurohypophysis granular cell tumours is still controversial but ultrastructural and immunohistochemical studies support the theory that may arise from pituicytes, the glial cells of neurohypophysis. Management of these benign, slow growing, tumours is based mainly on neurosurgical resection. Data from the literature do not support a beneficial effect of post operative radiation therapy on postoperative recurrences. (authors). 23 refs., 4 figs., 1 tab

Granular Cell Tumor

African Journals Online (AJOL)

1). Her packed cell volume was 40%, she was system, gastro-intestinal tract, brain, heart, and negative to human immunodeficiency virus. 2 female reproductive . ... histocytes and neurons at various times. They granules. The granules are probably of lysosmal were consequently termed granular cell origin and contain ...

Development of granular powder manufacturing technology by spray pyrolysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Katoh, Yoshiyuki; Kawase, Keiichi; Takahashi, Yoshiharu; Todokoro, Akio

1996-01-01

For shortening of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel manufacturing process and improvement in treatment of MOX-powder, we have been developing the granular powder production technology. Since the granular powders have excellent fluidity owing to the spherical shape, there is the possibility of modifying scattering and adcering of the powder in the process equipment. In this paper, spray pyrolysis process in adopted as the process of manufacturing the granular powders and the basic feasibility study has been carried out. The experimental results show that the manufactured granular powders have excellent fluidity and the diameter of the powders is controllable. Furthermore, high density pellets are formed by sintering the powders. Thus, it is clarified that this process is promising for the actual MOX fuel fabrication. (author)

Enhanced selection of micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol degrading granular sludge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lv, Yuancai, E-mail: donkey1204@hotmail.com [State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Chen, Yuancai, E-mail: chenyc@scut.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration Area, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Song, Wenzhe, E-mail: songwenzhe007@126.com [Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration Area, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China); Hu, Yongyou, E-mail: ppyyhu@scut.edu.cn [State Key Laboratory of Pulp and Paper Engineering, College of Light Industry and Food Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640 (China); Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Ecological Remediation for Industrial Agglomeration Area, College of Environment and Energy, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006 (China)

2014-09-15

Graphical abstract: In this work, an aerobic column reactor was placed before the USB to maintain micro-oxygen condition in the reactor and the micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L{sup −1}) was successfully obtained. PCP degradation by the micro-aerobic system was studied and the variance of microbial community was also discussed by using PCR-DGGE analysis. - Highlights: • Micro-aerobic granular sludge was cultivated in column-type combined reactors. • PCP biodegradation, VFA accumulation and biogas production were studied. • The function of Methanogenic archaeon in the system was investigated. • Fluctuation and diversity of microbial community were discussed by DGGE analysis. • The dominated microorganisms were identified by 16S rDNA sequences. - Abstract: Column-type combined reactors were designed to cultivate micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L{sup −1}) over 39-day experimental period. Micro-aerobic granular had both anaerobic activity (SMA: 2.34 mMCH{sub 4}/h g VSS) and aerobic activity (SOUR: 2.21 mMO{sub 2}/h g VSS). Metabolite analysis results revealed that PCP was sequentially dechlorinated to TCP, DCP, and eventually to MCP. Methanogens were not directly involved in the dechlorination of PCP, but might played a vital role in stabilizing the overall structure of the granule sludge. For Eubacteria, the Shannon Index (2.09 in inoculated granular sludge) increased both in micro-aerobic granular sludge (2.61) and PCP-degradation granular sludge (2.55). However, for Archaea, it decreased from 2.53 to 1.85 and 1.84, respectively. Although the Shannon Index demonstrated slight difference between micro-aerobic granular sludge and PCP-degradation granular sludge, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated obvious variance of the microbial composition, revealing significant effect of micro

Enhanced selection of micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol degrading granular sludge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lv, Yuancai; Chen, Yuancai; Song, Wenzhe; Hu, Yongyou

2014-01-01

Graphical abstract: In this work, an aerobic column reactor was placed before the USB to maintain micro-oxygen condition in the reactor and the micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L −1 ) was successfully obtained. PCP degradation by the micro-aerobic system was studied and the variance of microbial community was also discussed by using PCR-DGGE analysis. - Highlights: • Micro-aerobic granular sludge was cultivated in column-type combined reactors. • PCP biodegradation, VFA accumulation and biogas production were studied. • The function of Methanogenic archaeon in the system was investigated. • Fluctuation and diversity of microbial community were discussed by DGGE analysis. • The dominated microorganisms were identified by 16S rDNA sequences. - Abstract: Column-type combined reactors were designed to cultivate micro-aerobic pentachlorophenol (PCP) degrading granular sludge under oxygen-limited conditions (0.1–0.2 mg L −1 ) over 39-day experimental period. Micro-aerobic granular had both anaerobic activity (SMA: 2.34 mMCH 4 /h g VSS) and aerobic activity (SOUR: 2.21 mMO 2 /h g VSS). Metabolite analysis results revealed that PCP was sequentially dechlorinated to TCP, DCP, and eventually to MCP. Methanogens were not directly involved in the dechlorination of PCP, but might played a vital role in stabilizing the overall structure of the granule sludge. For Eubacteria, the Shannon Index (2.09 in inoculated granular sludge) increased both in micro-aerobic granular sludge (2.61) and PCP-degradation granular sludge (2.55). However, for Archaea, it decreased from 2.53 to 1.85 and 1.84, respectively. Although the Shannon Index demonstrated slight difference between micro-aerobic granular sludge and PCP-degradation granular sludge, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) indicated obvious variance of the microbial composition, revealing significant effect of micro-aerobic condition and

Thermal effects and in-plane magnetic anisotropy in thin-film recording media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ajan, Antony; Abarra, E.N.; Acharya, B.R.; Inomata, A.; Okamoto, I.; Shinohara, M.

2003-01-01

The effect of thermal activation on the in-plane magnetic anisotropy [measured as orientation ratio (OR)] of granular longitudinal magnetic recording media is investigated. Temperature and time dependent studies were made on media with different magnetic layer thicknesses. We find that OR is independent of temperature for a stable medium but shows a large increase with temperature for thermally unstable media. At low temperatures and high field sweep rates, the OR values are found to be the same, independent of the magnetic layer thickness. The unique value when thermal activation is reduced is consistent with the high population of the cobalt c axes along the texturing direction as the origin of anisotropy

Jamming by compressing a system of granular crosses

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Hu; Wang, Dong; Barés, Jonathan; Behringer, Robert

2017-06-01

A disordered stress-free granular packing can be jammed, transformed into a mechanically rigid structure, by increasing the density of particles or by applying shear deformation. The jamming behavior of systems made of 2D circular discs has been investigated in detail, but very little is known about jamming for non-spherical particles, and particularly, non-convex particles. Here, we perform an experimental study on jamming by compression of a system of quasi-2D granular crosses made of photo-elastic crosses. We measure the pressure evolution during cyclic compression and decompression. The Jamming packing fraction of these quasi-2D granular crosses is ϕJ ≃ 0.475, which is much smaller than the value ϕJ ≃ 0.84 for-2D granular disks. The packing fraction shifts systematically to higher values under compressive cycling, corresponding to systematic shifts in the stress-strain response curves. Associated with these shifts are rotations of the crosses, with minimal changes in their centers of mass.

Vortex jamming in superconductors and granular rheology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoshino, Hajime; Nogawa, Tomoaki; Kim, Bongsoo

2009-01-01

We demonstrate that a highly frustrated anisotropic Josephson junction array (JJA) on a square lattice exhibits a zero-temperature jamming transition, which shares much in common with those in granular systems. Anisotropy of the Josephson couplings along the horizontal and vertical directions plays roles similar to normal load or density in granular systems. We studied numerically static and dynamic response of the system against shear, i.e. injection of external electric current at zero temperature. Current-voltage curves at various strength of the anisotropy exhibit universal scaling features around the jamming point much as do the flow curves in granular rheology, shear-stress versus shear-rate. It turns out that at zero temperature the jamming transition occurs right at the isotropic coupling and anisotropic JJA behaves as exotic fragile vortex matter: it behaves as a superconductor (vortex glass) in one direction, whereas it is a normal conductor (vortex liquid) in the other direction even at zero temperature. Furthermore, we find a variant of the theoretical model for the anisotropic JJA quantitatively reproduces universal master flow-curves of the granular systems. Our results suggest an unexpected common paradigm stretching over seemingly unrelated fields-the rheology of soft materials and superconductivity.

Investigation of granular impact using positron emission particle tracking

KAUST Repository

Marston, Jeremy O.

2015-04-01

We present results from an experimental study of granular impact using a combination of high-speed video and positron emission particle tracking (PEPT). The PEPT technique exploits the annihilation of photons from positron decay to determine the position of tracer particles either inside a small granular bed or attached to the object which impacts the bed. We use dense spheres as impactors and the granular beds are comprised of glass beads which are fluidised to achieve a range of different initial packing states. For the first time, we have simultaneously investigated both the trajectory of the sphere, the motion of particles in a 3-D granular bed and particles which jump into the resultant jet, which arises from the collapse of the cavity formed by the impacting sphere.

Paraqueratose granular: relato de seis casos em crianças Granular parakeratosis: a report of six cases in children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susana Giraldi

2006-02-01

Full Text Available A paraqueratose granular é alteração da queratinização, primeiramente descrita em adultos, caracterizada por pápulas e placas hiperqueratósicas nas áreas intertriginosas. Os autores descrevem seis casos de paraqueratose granular em crianças. Um paciente apresentava lesões nas regiões glúteas, dois em ambas as axilas e região cervical (apresentações inéditas na literatura. Três pacientes apresentavam lesões em pregas inguinais. Realizam também revisão da literatura e discutem a possível etiologia dessa rara dermatose.Granular parakeratosis is an alteration of keratinization that was first described in adults. It is characterized by hiperkeratotic plaques and papules in intertriginous areas. The authors describe six cases of granular parakeratosis in children. One patient had lesions on the buttocks; two children presented papules in both axillae and cervical region (presentations never described before in the literature. The remaining three patients presented with lesions in the inguinal folds. Review of the literature and discussion on the pathogenesis of this rare dermatosis are presented.

Spray drying of beryllium oxide powder

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sepulveda, J.L.; Kahler, D.A.

1991-01-01

Forming of beryllia ceramics through dry pressing requires the agglomeration of the powder through spray drying. To produce high quality fired ceramics it is necessary to disperse/grind the primary powder prior to binder addition. Size reduction of the powder is accomplished using an aqueous system in Vibro-Energy mills (VEM) charged with beryllia media to minimize contamination. Two VEM mills of different size were used to characterize the grinding operation. Details of the grinding kinetics are described within the context of the Macroscopic Population Balance Model approach. Spray drying of the ceramic slurry was accomplished with both a centrifugal atomizer and a two fluid nozzle atomizer. Two different spray dryers were used. Important operating parameters affecting the size distribution of the spray dried powder are discussed

Media use, face-to-face communication, media multitasking, and social well-being among 8- to 12-year-old girls.

Science.gov (United States)

Pea, Roy; Nass, Clifford; Meheula, Lyn; Rance, Marcus; Kumar, Aman; Bamford, Holden; Nass, Matthew; Simha, Aneesh; Stillerman, Benjamin; Yang, Steven; Zhou, Michael

2012-03-01

An online survey of 3,461 North American girls ages 8-12 conducted in the summer of 2010 through Discovery Girls magazine examined the relationships between social well-being and young girls' media use--including video, video games, music listening, reading/homework, e-mailing/posting on social media sites, texting/instant messaging, and talking on phones/video chatting--and face-to-face communication. This study introduced both a more granular measure of media multitasking and a new comparative measure of media use versus time spent in face-to-face communication. Regression analyses indicated that negative social well-being was positively associated with levels of uses of media that are centrally about interpersonal interaction (e.g., phone, online communication) as well as uses of media that are not (e.g., video, music, and reading). Video use was particularly strongly associated with negative social well-being indicators. Media multitasking was also associated with negative social indicators. Conversely, face-to-face communication was strongly associated with positive social well-being. Cell phone ownership and having a television or computer in one's room had little direct association with children's socioemotional well-being. We hypothesize possible causes for these relationships, call for research designs to address causality, and outline possible implications of such findings for the social well-being of younger adolescents. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved.

A Fractal Study on the Effective Thermal Conductivity of Porous Media

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, X.; Cai, J.; Wei, W.

2017-12-01

Thermal conduction in porous media has steadily received attention in science and engineering, for instance, exploiting and utilizing the geothermal energy, developing the oil-gas resource, ground water flow in hydrothermal systems and investigating the potential host nuclear wastes, etc. The thermal conductivity is strongly influenced by the microstructure features of porous media. In this work, based on the fractal characteristics of the grains, a theoretical model of effective thermal conductivity is proposed for saturated and unsaturated porous media. It is found that the proposed effective thermal conductivity solution is a function of geometrical parameters of porous media, such as the porosity, fractal dimension of granular matrix and the thermal conductivity of the grains and pore fluid. The model predictions are compared with existing experimental data and the results show that they are in good agreement with existing experimental data. The proposed model may provide a better understanding of the physical mechanisms of thermal transfer in porous media than conventional models.

Use of cheese whey for biomass production and spray drying of probiotic lactobacilli.

Science.gov (United States)

Lavari, Luisina; Páez, Roxana; Cuatrin, Alejandra; Reinheimer, Jorge; Vinderola, Gabriel

2014-08-01

The double use of cheese whey (culture medium and thermoprotectant for spray drying of lactobacilli) was explored in this study for adding value to this wastewater. In-house formulated broth (similar to MRS) and dairy media (cheese and ricotta whey and whey permeate) were assessed for their capacity to produce biomass of Lactobacillus paracasei JP1, Lb. rhamnosus 64 and Lb. gasseri 37. Simultaneously, spray drying of cheese whey-starch solution (without lactobacilli cells) was optimised using surface response methodology. Cell suspensions of the lactobacilli, produced in in house-formulated broth, were spray-dried in cheese whey-starch solution and viability monitored throughout the storage of powders for 2 months. Lb. rhamnosus 64 was able to grow satisfactorily in at least two of the in-house formulated culture media and in the dairy media assessed. It also performed well in spray drying. The performance of the other strains was less satisfactory. The growth capacity, the resistance to spray drying in cheese whey-starch solution and the negligible lost in viability during the storage (2 months), makes Lb. rhamnosus 64 a promising candidate for further technological studies for developing a probiotic dehydrated culture for foods, utilising wastewaters of the dairy industry (as growth substrate and protectant) and spray drying (a low-cost widely-available technology).

Anaerobic granular sludge and biofilm reactors

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skiadas, Ioannis V.; Gavala, Hariklia N.; Schmidt, Jens Ejbye

2003-01-01

by the immobilization of the biomass, which forms static biofilms, particle-supported biofilms, or granules depending on the reactor's operational conditions. The advantages of the high-rate anaerobic digestion over the conventional aerobic wastewater treatment methods has created a clear trend for the change......-rate anaerobic treatment systems based on anaerobic granular sludge and biofilm are described in this chapter. Emphasis is given to a) the Up-flow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) systems, b) the main characteristics of the anaerobic granular sludge, and c) the factors that control the granulation process...

EFFECT OF ENDOSPERM HARDNESS ON AN ETHANOL PROCESS USING A GRANULAR STARCH HYDROLYZING ENZYME

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, P; W Liu, D B; Johnston, K D; Rausch, S J; Schmidt, M E; Tumbleson, V Singh

2010-01-01

Granular starch hydrolyzing enzymes (GSHE) can hydrolyze starch at low temperature (32°C). The dry grind process using GSHE (GSH process) has fewer unit operations and no changes in process conditions (pH 4.0 and 32°C) compared to the conventional process because it dispenses with the cooking and liquefaction step. In this study, the effects of endosperm hardness, protease, urea, and GSHE levels on GSH process were evaluated. Ground corn, soft endosperm, and hard endosperm were processed using two GSHE levels (0.1 and 0.4 mL per 100 g ground material) and four treatments of protease and urea addition. Soft and hard endosperm materials were obtained by grinding and sifting flaking grits from a dry milling pilot plant; classifications were confirmed using scanning electron microscopy. During 72 h of simultaneous granular starch hydrolysis and fermentation (GSHF), ethanol and glucose profiles were determined using HPLC. Soft endosperm resulted in higher final ethanol concentrations compared to ground corn or hard endosperm. Addition of urea increased final ethanol concentrations for soft and hard endosperm. Protease addition increased ethanol concentrations and fermentation rates for soft endosperm, hard endosperm, and ground corn. The effect of protease addition on ethanol concentrations and fermentation rates was most predominant for soft endosperm, less for hard endosperm, and least for ground corn. Samples (soft endosperm, hard endosperm, or corn) with protease resulted in higher (1.0% to 10.5% v/v) ethanol concentration compared to samples with urea. The GSH process with protease requires little or no urea addition. For fermentation of soft endosperm, GSHE dose can be reduced. Due to nutrients (lipids, minerals, and soluble proteins) present in corn that enhance yeast growth, ground corn fermented faster at the beginning than hard and soft endosperm.

USE OF GRANULAR GRAPHITE FOR ELECTROLYTIC DECHLORINATION OF TRICHLOROETHYLENE

Science.gov (United States)

Granular graphite is a potential electrode material for the electrochemical remediation of refractory chlorinated organic compounds such as trichloroethylene (TCE). However, the use of granular graphite can complicate the experimental results. On one hand, up to 99% of TCE was re...

11th Traffic and Granular Flow Conference

CERN Document Server

Daamen, Winnie

2016-01-01

The Conference on Traffic and Granular Flow brings together international researchers from different fields ranging from physics to computer science and engineering to discuss the latest developments in traffic-related systems. Originally conceived to facilitate new ideas by considering the similarities of traffic and granular flow, TGF'15, organised by Delft University of Technology, now covers a broad range of topics related to driven particle and transport systems. Besides the classical topics of granular flow and highway traffic, its scope includes data transport (Internet traffic), pedestrian and evacuation dynamics, intercellular transport, swarm behaviour and the collective dynamics of other biological systems. Recent advances in modelling, computer simulation and phenomenology are presented, and prospects for applications, for example to traffic control, are discussed. The conference explores the interrelations between the above-mentioned fields and offers the opportunity to stimulate interdisciplinar...

The Granular Blasius Problem: High inertial number granular flows

Science.gov (United States)

Tsang, Jonathan; Dalziel, Stuart; Vriend, Nathalie

2017-11-01

The classical Blasius problem considers the formation of a boundary layer through the change at x = 0 from a free-slip to a no-slip boundary beneath an otherwise steady uniform flow. Discrete particle model (DPM) simulations of granular gravity currents show that a similar phenomenon exists for a steady flow over a uniformly sloped surface that is smooth upstream (allowing slip) but rough downstream (imposing a no-slip condition). The boundary layer is a region of high shear rate and therefore high inertial number I; its dynamics are governed by the asymptotic behaviour of the granular rheology as I -> ∞ . The μ(I) rheology asserts that dμ / dI = O(1 /I2) as I -> ∞ , but current experimental evidence is insufficient to confirm this. We show that `generalised μ(I) rheologies', with different behaviours as I -> ∞ , all permit the formation of a boundary layer. We give approximate solutions for the velocity profile under each rheology. The change in boundary condition considered here mimics more complex topography in which shear stress increases in the streamwise direction (e.g. a curved slope). Such a system would be of interest in avalanche modelling. EPSRC studentship (Tsang) and Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (Vriend).

Effect of wetting properties on the kinetics of drying of porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shahidzadeh-Bonn, N; Azouni, A; Coussot, P

2007-01-01

The influence of the wetting properties of a model porous medium on the evaporation rate of water contained in the sample is studied experimentally. For a hydrophilic porous medium, drying is mainly controlled by the liquid film covering the solid grains and capillary rise inside the pores, leading to a constant drying rate and a homogeneous desaturation of the whole sample in time. For a hydrophobic porous medium, a drying front penetrates into the sample in the early stages of evaporation and the drying rate is found to strongly depend on the boundary conditions and wetting heterogeneities. In the presence of an air flow along the free surface of the sample, the drying rate varies as the square root of time, indicating a diffusive transport mechanism. Without air flow, a power law behaviour for the drying rate as a function of time is observed with an exponent of 0.75 ± 0.03. This is likely to be due to competition between diffusion through the vapour phase and local capillary rise of the liquid due to wetting heterogeneities. A surprising consequence is that for the late stages of drying, the total evaporated mass may become larger without air flow than with air flow. (fast track communication)

Granular cell tumor: An uncommon benign neoplasm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tirthankar Gayen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Granular cell tumor is a distinctly rare neoplasm of neural sheath origin. It mainly presents as a solitary asymptomatic swelling in the oral cavity, skin, and rarely internal organs in the middle age. Histopathology is characteristic, showing polyhedral cells containing numerous fine eosinophilic granules with indistinct cell margins. We present a case of granular cell tumor on the back of a 48-year-old woman which was painful, mimicking an adnexal tumor.

Modeling of light dynamic cone penetration test - Panda 3 ® in granular material by using 3D Discrete element method

Science.gov (United States)

Tran, Quoc Anh; Chevalier, Bastien; Benz, Miguel; Breul, Pierre; Gourvès, Roland

2017-06-01

The recent technological developments made on the light dynamic penetration test Panda 3 ® provide a dynamic load-penetration curve σp - sp for each impact. This curve is influenced by the mechanical and physical properties of the investigated granular media. In order to analyze and exploit the load-penetration curve, a numerical model of penetration test using 3D Discrete Element Method is proposed for reproducing tests in dynamic conditions in granular media. All parameters of impact used in this model have at first been calibrated by respecting mechanical and geometrical properties of the hammer and the rod. There is a good agreement between experimental results and the ones obtained from simulations in 2D or 3D. After creating a sample, we will simulate the Panda 3 ®. It is possible to measure directly the dynamic load-penetration curve occurring at the tip for each impact. Using the force and acceleration measured in the top part of the rod, it is possible to separate the incident and reflected waves and then calculate the tip's load-penetration curve. The load-penetration curve obtained is qualitatively similar with that obtained by experimental tests. In addition, the frequency analysis of the measured signals present also a good compliance with that measured in reality when the tip resistance is qualitatively similar.

Stress Transmission in Granular Packings: Localization and Cooperative Response

Science.gov (United States)

Ramola, Kabir

We develop a framework for stress transmission in two dimensional granular media that respects vector force balance at the microscopic level. For a packing of grains interacting via pairwise contact forces, we introduce local gauge degrees of freedom that determine the response of the system to external perturbations. This allows us to construct unique force-balanced solutions that determine the change in contact forces as a response to external stress. By mapping this response to diffusion in the underlying contact network, we show that this naturally leads to spatial localization of forces. We present numerical evidence for stress localization using exact diagonalization studies of network Laplacians associated with soft disk packings. We use this formalism to characterize the deviation from elastic behaviour as the amount of disorder in the underlying network is varied. We discuss generalizations to systems with large friction between grains and other networks that display topological disorder. This work has been supported by NSF-DMR 1409093 and the W. M. Keck Foundation.

Density-Driven segregation in Binary and Ternary Granular Systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Windows-Yule, Kit; Parker, David

2015-01-01

We present a first experimental study of density-induced segregation within a three-dimensional, vibrofluidised, ternary granular system. Using Positron Emission Particle Tracking (PEPT), we study the steady-state particle distributions achieved by binary and ternary granular beds under a variety of

Event-based user classification in Weibo media.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Liang; Wang, Wendong; Cheng, Shiduan; Que, Xirong

2014-01-01

Weibo media, known as the real-time microblogging services, has attracted massive attention and support from social network users. Weibo platform offers an opportunity for people to access information and changes the way people acquire and disseminate information significantly. Meanwhile, it enables people to respond to the social events in a more convenient way. Much of the information in Weibo media is related to some events. Users who post different contents, and exert different behavior or attitude may lead to different contribution to the specific event. Therefore, classifying the large amount of uncategorized social circles generated in Weibo media automatically from the perspective of events has been a promising task. Under this circumstance, in order to effectively organize and manage the huge amounts of users, thereby further managing their contents, we address the task of user classification in a more granular, event-based approach in this paper. By analyzing real data collected from Sina Weibo, we investigate the Weibo properties and utilize both content information and social network information to classify the numerous users into four primary groups: celebrities, organizations/media accounts, grassroots stars, and ordinary individuals. The experiments results show that our method identifies the user categories accurately.

Controlling mixing and segregation in time periodic granular flows

Science.gov (United States)

Bhattacharya, Tathagata

Segregation is a major problem for many solids processing industries. Differences in particle size or density can lead to flow-induced segregation. In the present work, we employ the discrete element method (DEM)---one type of particle dynamics (PD) technique---to investigate the mixing and segregation of granular material in some prototypical solid handling devices, such as a rotating drum and chute. In DEM, one calculates the trajectories of individual particles based on Newton's laws of motion by employing suitable contact force models and a collision detection algorithm. Recently, it has been suggested that segregation in particle mixers can be thwarted if the particle flow is inverted at a rate above a critical forcing frequency. Further, it has been hypothesized that, for a rotating drum, the effectiveness of this technique can be linked to the probability distribution of the number of times a particle passes through the flowing layer per rotation of the drum. In the first portion of this work, various configurations of solid mixers are numerically and experimentally studied to investigate the conditions for improved mixing in light of these hypotheses. Besides rotating drums, many studies of granular flow have focused on gravity driven chute flows owing to its practical importance in granular transportation and to the fact that the relative simplicity of this type of flow allows for development and testing of new theories. In this part of the work, we observe the deposition behavior of both mono-sized and polydisperse dry granular materials in an inclined chute flow. The effects of different parameters such as chute angle, particle size, falling height and charge amount on the mass fraction distribution of granular materials after deposition are investigated. The simulation results obtained using DEM are compared with the experimental findings and a high degree of agreement is observed. Tuning of the underlying contact force parameters allows the achievement

How methylhydroxyethylcellulose (MHEC) influences drying in porous media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Faiyas, A.P.A.; Erich, S.J.F.; van Soestbergen, M.; Huinink, H.P.; Adan, O.C.G.; Nijland, T.G.

2015-01-01

This article presents both an experimental as well as a theoretical study on the effect of MethylHydroxyEthylCellulose (MHEC) on drying in porous materials using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (NMR). MHEC, a water soluble polymer, is normally added to glue mortars as a water retention agent in

Massive granular cell ameloblastoma with dural extension and atypical morphology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vandana Raghunath

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Ameloblastomas are rare histologically benign, locally aggressive tumors arising from the oral ectoderm that occasionally reach a gigantic size. Giant ameloblastomas are a rarity these days with the advent of panoramic radiography in routine dental practice. Furthermore, the granular cell variant is an uncommon histological subtype of ameloblastoma where the central stellate reticulum like cells in tumor follicles is replaced by granular cells. Although granular cell ameloblastoma (GCA is considered to be a destructive tumor with a high recurrence rate, the significance of granular cells in predicting its biologic behavior is debatable. However, we present a rare case of giant GCA of remarkable histomorphology showing extensive craniofacial involvement and dural extension that rendered a good prognosis following treatment.

Numerical analysis of temperature and flow effects in a dry, two-dimensional, porous-media reservoir used for compressed air energy storage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wiles, L.E.

1979-10-01

The purpose of the work is to define the hydrodynamic and thermodynamic response of a CAES dry porous media reservoir subjected to simulated air mass cycling. The knowledge gained will provide, or will assist in providing, design guidelines for the efficient and stable operation of the air storage reservoir. The analysis and results obtained by two-dimensional modeling of dry reservoirs are presented. While the fluid/thermal response of the underground system is dependent on many parameters, the two-dimensional model was applied only to those parameters that entered the analysis by virtue of inclusion of the vertical dimension. In particular, the parameters or responses that were quantified or characterized include wellbore heat transfer, heat losses to the vertical boundaries of the porous zone, gravitationally induced flows, producing length of the wellbore, and the effects of nonuniform permeability. The analysis of the wellbore heat transfer included consideration of insulation, preheating (bubble development with heated air), and air mass flow rate.

Tunneling magnetoresistance in granular cermet films with particle size distribution

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vovk, A.Ya.; Golub, V.O.; Malkinski, L.; Kravets, A.F.; Pogorily, A.M.; Shypil', O.V.

2004-01-01

The correlation between tunneling magnetoresistance (TMR) and field sensitivity (dMR/dH) for granular films (Co 50 Fe 50 ) x -(Al 2 O 3 ) 1-x was studied. The position of TMR maximum is shifted towards the lower x in the higher applied magnetic fields. Such a behavior was observed for metal granular nanocomposites but is first reported for granular cermets. However the highest dMR/dH was found for the compositions just below the percolation threshold

Influence of granular strontium chloride as additives on some ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Influence of granular strontium chloride as additives on some electrical and mechanical properties for pure polyvinyl alcohol. A B Elaydy M Hafez ... Keywords. Polyvinyl-alcohol (PVA); granular strontium chloride, SrCl2; a.c. electrical conductivity; dielectric constant; dielectric loss; Young's modulus; creep relaxation curve.

Evaluating the effects of granular and membrane filtrations on chlorine demand in drinking water.

Science.gov (United States)

Jegatheesan, Veeriah; Kim, Seung Hyun; Joo, C K; Gao, Baoyu

2009-01-01

In this study, chlorine decay experiments were conducted for the raw water from Nakdong River that is treated by Chilseo Water Treatment Plant (CWTP) situated in Haman, Korea as well as the effluents from sand and granular activated carbon (GAC) filters of CWTP and fitted using a chlorine decay model. The model estimated the fast and slow reacting nitrogenous as well as organic/inorganic compounds that were present in the water. It was found that the chlorine demand due to fast and slow reacting (FRA and SRA) organic/inorganic substances was not reduced significantly by sand as well as GAC filters. However, the treated effluents from those filters contained FRA and SRA that are less reactive and had small reaction rate constants. For the effluents from microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and nanofiltration the chlorine demand because FRA and SRA were further reduced but the reaction rate constants were larger compared to those of sand and GAC filter effluents. This has implications in the formation of disinfection by products (DBPs). If DBPs are assumed to form due to the interactions between chlorine and SRA, then it is possible that the DBP formation potential in the effluents from membrane filtrations could be higher than that in the effluents from granular media filters.

Origin of the resistivity minima in granular superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simanek, E.

1982-01-01

The recently observed minima in the temperature dependence of the electrical resistivity of a granular superconductor are explained with use of a percolation model of a disordered granular array, which takes into account the electrostatic charging energy. The thermally activated tunneling of Cooper pairs is shown to play an important role in the interpretation of the experimental data on tin films

Granular starch hydrolysis for fuel ethanol production

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ping

Granular starch hydrolyzing enzymes (GSHE) convert starch into fermentable sugars at low temperatures (≤48°C). Use of GSHE in dry grind process can eliminate high temperature requirements during cooking and liquefaction (≥90°C). In this study, GSHE was compared with two combinations of commercial alpha-amylase and glucoamylase (DG1 and DG2, respectively). All three enzyme treatments resulted in comparable ethanol concentrations (between 14.1 to 14.2% v/v at 72 hr), ethanol conversion efficiencies and ethanol and DDGS yields. Sugar profiles for the GSHE treatment were different from DG1 and DG2 treatments, especially for glucose. During simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), the highest glucose concentration for the GSHE treatment was 7% (w/v); for DG1 and DG2 treatments, maximum glucose concentration was 19% (w/v). GSHE was used in one of the fractionation technologies (enzymatic dry grind) to improve recovery of germ and pericarp fiber prior to fermentation. The enzymatic dry grind process with GSHE was compared with the conventional dry grind process using GSHE with the same process parameters of dry solids content, pH, temperature, time, enzyme and yeast usages. Ethanol concentration (at 72 hr) of the enzymatic process was 15.5% (v/v), which was 9.2% higher than the conventional process (14.2% v/v). Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) generated from the enzymatic process (9.8% db) was 66% less than conventional process (28.3% db). Three additional coproducts, germ 8.0% (db), pericarp fiber 7.7% (db) and endosperm fiber 5.2% (db) were produced. Costs and amounts of GSHE used is an important factor affecting dry grind process economics. Proteases can weaken protein matrix to aid starch release and may reduce GSHE doses. Proteases also can hydrolyze protein into free amino nitrogen (FAN), which can be used as a yeast nutrient during fermentation. Two types of proteases, exoprotease and endoprotease, were studied; protease and urea

Hierarchical modular granular neural networks with fuzzy aggregation

CERN Document Server

Sanchez, Daniela

2016-01-01

In this book, a new method for hybrid intelligent systems is proposed. The proposed method is based on a granular computing approach applied in two levels. The techniques used and combined in the proposed method are modular neural networks (MNNs) with a Granular Computing (GrC) approach, thus resulting in a new concept of MNNs; modular granular neural networks (MGNNs). In addition fuzzy logic (FL) and hierarchical genetic algorithms (HGAs) are techniques used in this research work to improve results. These techniques are chosen because in other works have demonstrated to be a good option, and in the case of MNNs and HGAs, these techniques allow to improve the results obtained than with their conventional versions; respectively artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms.

Surface effects in the acetylation of granular potato starch

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steeneken, P.A.M.; Woortman, A.J.J.

2008-01-01

The occurrence of surface effects in the acetylation of granular potato starch with acetic anhydride to degrees of substitution 0.04-0.2 was studied by two different approaches. The first approach involved the fractionation of granular starch acetates into five different size classes and analysis of

Cohesive granular media modelization with non-convex particles shape: Application to UO2 powder compaction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Saint-Cyr, B.

2011-01-01

We model in this work granular materials composed of non-convex and cohesive aggregates, in view of application to the rheology of UO 2 powders. The effect of non convexity is analyzed in terms of bulk quantities (Coulomb internal friction and cohesion) and micromechanical parameters such as texture anisotropy and force transmission. In particular, we find that the packing fraction evolves in a complex manner with the shape non convexity and the shear strength increases but saturates due to interlocking between the aggregates. We introduce simple models to describe these features in terms of micro-mechanical parameters. Furthermore, a systematic investigation of shearing, uniaxial compaction and simple compression of cohesive packings show that bulk cohesion increases with non-convexity but is strongly influenced by the boundary conditions and shear bands or stress concentration. (author) [fr

Tuning strain of granular matter by basal assisted Couette shear

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhao Yiqiu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available We present a novel Couette shear apparatus capable of generating programmable azimuthal strain inside 2D granular matter under Couette shear. The apparatus consists of 21 independently movable concentric rings and two boundary wheels with frictional racks. This makes it possible to quasistatically shear the granular matter not only from the boundaries but also from the bottom. We show that, by specifying the collective motion of wheels and rings, the apparatus successfully generates the desired strain profile inside the sample granular system, which is composed of about 2000 photoelastic disks. The motion and stress of each particle is captured by an imaging system utilizing reflective photoelasticimetry. This apparatus provides a novel method to investigate shear jamming properties of granular matter with different interior strain profiles and unlimited strain amplitudes.

Emotional Granularity Effects on Event-Related Brain Potentials during Affective Picture Processing.

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Ja Y; Lindquist, Kristen A; Nam, Chang S

2017-01-01

There is debate about whether emotional granularity , the tendency to label emotions in a nuanced and specific manner, is merely a product of labeling abilities, or a systematic difference in the experience of emotion during emotionally evocative events. According to the Conceptual Act Theory of Emotion (CAT) (Barrett, 2006), emotional granularity is due to the latter and is a product of on-going temporal differences in how individuals categorize and thus make meaning of their affective states. To address this question, the present study investigated the effects of individual differences in emotional granularity on electroencephalography-based brain activity during the experience of emotion in response to affective images. Event-related potentials (ERP) and event-related desynchronization and synchronization (ERD/ERS) analysis techniques were used. We found that ERP responses during the very early (60-90 ms), middle (270-300 ms), and later (540-570 ms) moments of stimulus presentation were associated with individuals' level of granularity. We also observed that highly granular individuals, compared to lowly granular individuals, exhibited relatively stable desynchronization of alpha power (8-12 Hz) and synchronization of gamma power (30-50 Hz) during the 3 s of stimulus presentation. Overall, our results suggest that emotional granularity is related to differences in neural processing throughout emotional experiences and that high granularity could be associated with access to executive control resources and a more habitual processing of affective stimuli, or a kind of "emotional complexity." Implications for models of emotion are also discussed.

Effect of operational factors on bioregeneration of binary phenol and 4-chlorophenol-loaded granular activated carbon using PVA-immobilized biomass cryogels.

Science.gov (United States)

Leong, Kwok-Yii; Adnan, Rohana; Lim, Poh-Eng; Ng, Si-Ling; Seng, Chye-Eng

2017-09-01

The effects of dry biomass density in cryogel beads, shaking speed and initial concentration ratio of phenol to 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) on the bioregeneration efficiencies of binary phenol and 4-CP-loaded granular activated carbon (GAC) for phenol and 4-CP, respectively, were investigated under the simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation approach. The results revealed higher bioregeneration efficiencies of binary-loaded GAC for phenol and 4-CP at higher dry biomass density but moderate shaking speed. The optimum dry biomass density in cryogel beads and shaking speed for use in bioregeneration were found to be 0.01 g/mL and 250 rpm, respectively. With respect to the initial phenol to 4-CP concentration ratio, the bioregeneration efficiencies were lower under increasing phenol and 4-CP initial concentrations, respectively, with the effect being more conspicuous under increasing 4-CP concentration. Higher bioregeneration efficiencies were achieved with the use of immobilized rather than suspended biomasses.

Small solar system bodies as granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Hestroffer, Daniel; Campo Bagatín, Adriano; Losert, Wolfgang; Opsomer, Eric; Sánchez, Paul; Scheeres, Daniel J.; Staron, Lydie; Taberlet, Nicolas; Yano, Hajime; Eggl, Siegfried; Lecomte, Charles-Edouard; Murdoch, Naomi; Radjai, Fahrang; Richardson, Derek C.; Salazar, Marcos; Schwartz, Stephen R.; Tanga, Paolo

2017-06-01

Asteroids and other Small Solar System Bodies (SSSBs) are currently of great scientific and even industrial interest. Asteroids exist as the permanent record of the formation of the Solar System and therefore hold many clues to its understanding as a whole, as well as insights into the formation of planetary bodies. Additionally, SSSBs are being investigated in the context of impact risks for the Earth, space situational awareness and their possible industrial exploitation (asteroid mining). In all these aspects, the knowledge of the geophysical characteristics of SSSB surface and internal structure are of great importance. Given their size, constitution, and the evidence that many SSSBs are not simple monoliths, these bodies should be studied and modelled as self-gravitating granular systems in general, or as granular systems in micro-gravity environments in particular contexts. As such, the study of the geophysical characteristics of SSSBs is a multi-disciplinary effort that lies at the crossroads between Granular Mechanics, Celestial Mechanics, Soil Mechanics, Aerospace Engineering and Computer Sciences.

Thermal diffusion segregation of an impurity in a driven granular fluid

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Reyes, Francisco Vega; Garzó, Vicente [Departamento de Física, Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz, Spain and Instituto de Computación Científica Avanzada (ICCAEx), Universidad de Extremadura, E-06071 Badajoz (Spain)

2014-12-09

We study segregation of an impurity in a driven granular fluid under two types of steady states. In the first state, the granular gas is driven by a stochastic volume force field with a Fourier-type profile while in the second state, the granular gas is sheared in such a way that inelastic cooling is balanced by viscous heating. We compare theoretical results derived from a solution of the (inelastic) Boltzmann equation at Navier-Stokes (NS) order with those obtained from the Direct Monte Carlo simulation (DSMC) method and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Good agreement is found between theory and simulation, which provides strong evidence of the reliability of NS granular hydrodynamics for these steady states (including the dynamics of the impurity), even at high inelasticity. In addition, preliminary results for thermal diffusion in granular fluids at moderate densities are also presented. As for dilute gases, excellent agreement is also found in this more general case.

Experimental and numerical investigations on freeze-drying of porous media with prebuilt porosity

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Wei; Yang, Jing; Hu, Dapeng; Pan, Yanqiu; Wang, Shihao; Chen, Guohua

2018-05-01

Freeze-drying of initially porous frozen material was investigated aimed at improving the process economics by reducing drying time and raising productivity. Experimental results showed that freeze-drying can be significantly enhanced by the frozen material with prebuilt porosity, and about 31% of drying time can be saved compared with the conventionally solid frozen material under the tested operating conditions. A multiphase transport model was formulated based on the local mass non-equilibrium assumption. Numerical results showed excellent agreements between measured and predicted drying curves. Analyses of saturation and temperature profiles displayed that volumetric sublimation-desorption can occur for the initially porous frozen material.

Electrical transport properties in Fe-Cr nanocluster-assembled granular films

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiong-Zhi; Wang, Lai-Sen; Zhang, Qin-Fu; Liu, Xiang; Xie, Jia; Su, A.-Mei; Zheng, Hong-Fei; Peng, Dong-Liang

2017-09-01

The Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films with Cr atomic fraction (x) ranging from 0 to 100 were fabricated by using a plasma-gas-condensation cluster deposition system. The TEM characterization revealed that the uniform Fe clusters were coated with a Cr layer to form a Fe-Cr core-shell structure. Then, the as-prepared Fe100-xCrx nanoclusters were randomly assembled into a granular film in vacuum environments with increasing the deposition time. Because of the competition between interfacial resistance and shunting effect of Cr layer, the room temperature resistivity of the Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films first increased and then decreased with increasing the Cr atomic fraction (x), and revealed a maximum of 2 × 104 μΩ cm at x = 26 at.%. The temperature-dependent longitudinal resistivity (ρxx), magnetoresistance (MR) effect and anomalous Hall effect (AHE) of these Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films were also studied systematically. As the x increased from 0 to 100, the ρxx of all samples firstly decreased and then increased with increasing the measuring temperature. The dependence of ρxx on temperature could be well addressed by a mechanism incorporated for the fluctuation-induced-tunneling (FIT) conduction process and temperature-dependent scattering effect. It was found that the anomalous Hall effect (AHE) had no legible scaling relation in Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films. However, after deducting the contribution of tunneling effect, the scaling relation was unambiguous. Additionally, the Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films revealed a small negative magnetoresistance (MR), which decreased with the increase of x. The detailed physical mechanism of the electrical transport properties in these Fe100-xCrx nanocluster-assembled granular films was also studied.

A theoretical and numerical study of the flow of granular materials down an inclined plane. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rajagopal, K.R.

1995-12-31

The mechanics of the flowing granular materials such as coal, agricultural products, at deal of attention as it has fertilizers, dry chemicals, metal ores, etc. have received a great deal of attention as it has relevance to several important technological problems. Despite wide interest and more than five decades of experimental and theoretical investigations, most aspects of the behavior of flowing granular materials are still not well understood. So Experiments have to be devised which quantify and describe the non-linear behavior of the modular materials, and theories developed which can explain the experimentally observed facts. As many models have been suggested for describing the behavior of granular materials, from both continuum and kinetic theory viewpoints, we proposed to investigate the validity and usefulness of representative models from both the continuum and kinetic theory points of view, by determining the prediction of such a theory, in a representative flow, with respect to existence, non-existence, multiplicity and stability of solutions. The continuum model to be investigated is an outgrowth of a model due to Goodman and Cowin (1971, 1972) and the kinetic theory models being those due to Jenkins and Richman (1985) and Boyle and Massoudi (1989). In this report we present detailed results regarding the same. Interestingly, we find that the predictions of all the theories, in certain parameter space associated with these models, are qualitatively similar. This ofcourse depends on the values assumed for various material parameters in the models, which as yet are unknown, as reliable experiments have not been carried out as yet for their determination.

Dermatofibroma-like granular cell tumour: a potential diagnostic pitfall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiri Soukup

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Dermatofibroma-like granular cell tumour (GCT is a rare entity, with only two cases having been described so far. We report another case in a 62-year-old woman, discuss histopathological features, and review other tumours in which granular changes have been observed. Our tumour was composed predominantly of oval-to-spindle granular cells with prominent nucleoli, arranged in short fascicles and storiform pattern, infiltrating around collagen bundles. Immunohistochemical analysis with antibodies against CD31, CD56, CD68, CD117, S-100 protein, inhibin, calretinin, EMA, p53 and MIB-1 was performed, showing expression of CD56, CD68, S-100 protein, inhibin and calretinin. The diagnosis of atypical dermatofibroma-like GCT was made.

Characteristics and performance of aerobic algae-bacteria granular consortia in a photo-sequencing batch reactor.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lin; Zeng, Zhichao; Bee, Mingyang; Gibson, Valerie; Wei, Lili; Huang, Xu; Liu, Chaoxiang

2018-05-05

The characteristics and performance of algae-bacteria granular consortia which cultivated with aerobic granules and targeted algae (Chlorella and Scenedesmus), and the essential difference between granular consortia and aerobic granules were investigated in this experiment. The result indicated that algae-bacteria granular consortia could be successfully developed, and the algae present in the granular consortia were mainly Chlorella and Scenedesmus. Although the change of chlorophyll composition revealed the occurrence of light limitation for algal growth, the granular consortia could maintain stable granular structure, and even showed better settling property than aerobic granules. Total nitrogen and phosphate in the algal-bacterial granular system showed better removal efficiencies (50.2% and 35.7%) than those in the aerobic granular system (32.8% and 25.6%) within one cycle (6 h). The biodiesel yield of aerobic granules could be significantly improved by algal coupled process, yet methyl linolenate and methyl palmitoleate were the dominant composition of biodiesel obtained from granular consortia and aerobic granules, respectively. Meanwhile, the difference of dominant bacterial communities in the both granules was found at the order level and family level, and alpha diversity indexes revealed the granular consortia had a higher microbial diversity. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

User-centric Query Refinement and Processing Using Granularity Based Strategies

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zeng, Y.; Zhong, N.; Wang, Y.; Qin, Y.; Huang, Z.; Zhou, H; Yao, Y; van Harmelen, F.A.H.

2011-01-01

Under the context of large-scale scientific literatures, this paper provides a user-centric approach for refining and processing incomplete or vague query based on cognitive- and granularity-based strategies. From the viewpoints of user interests retention and granular information processing, we

Note: Optimization of the numerical data analysis for conductivity percolation studies of drying moist porous systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Moscicki, J. K.; Sokolowska, D.; Dziob, D.; Nowak, J. [Smoluchowski Institute of Physics, Jagiellonian University, Reymonta 4, 30-059 Krakow (Poland); Kwiatkowski, L. [Department of Econometrics and Operations Research, Cracow University of Economics, Rakowicka 27, 31-510 Krakow (Poland)

2014-02-15

A simplified data analysis protocol, for dielectric spectroscopy use to study conductivity percolation in dehydrating granular media is discussed. To enhance visibility of the protonic conductivity contribution to the dielectric loss spectrum, detrimental effects of either low-frequency dielectric relaxation or electrode polarization are removed. Use of the directly measurable monofrequency dielectric loss factor rather than estimated DC conductivity to parameterize the percolation transition substantially reduces the analysis work and time.

Large mid-esophageal granular cell tumor: benign versus malignant

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prarthana Roselil Christopher

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Granular cell tumors are rare soft tissue neoplasms, among which only 2% are malignant, arising from nervous tissue. Here we present a case of a large esophageal granular cell tumor with benign histopathological features which metastasized to the liver, but showing on positron emission tomography-computerized tomography standardized uptake value suggestive of a benign lesion.

Adsorption Study of Cobalt on Treated Granular Activated Carbon

OpenAIRE

Y. V. Hete; S. B. Gholase; R. U. Khope

2012-01-01

This study is carried out for the removal of cobalt from aqueous solution using granular activated carbon in combination with p-nitro benzoic acid at temperature 25±1 °C. The adsorption isotherm of cobalt on granular activated carbon has been determined and the data fitted reasonably well to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm for activated carbon.

Editorial: Modelling and computational challenges in granular materials

OpenAIRE

Weinhart, Thomas; Thornton, Anthony Richard; Einav, Itai

2015-01-01

This is the editorial for the special issue on “Modelling and computational challenges in granular materials” in the journal on Computational Particle Mechanics (CPM). The issue aims to provide an opportunity for physicists, engineers, applied mathematicians and computational scientists to discuss the current progress and latest advancements in the field of advanced numerical methods and modelling of granular materials. The focus will be on computational methods, improved algorithms and the m...

Can one ``Hear'' the aggregation state of a granular system?

Science.gov (United States)

Kruelle, Christof A.; Sánchez, Almudena García

2013-06-01

If an ensemble of macroscopic particles is mechanically agitated the constant energy input is dissipated into the system by multiple inelastic collisions. As a result, the granular material can exhibit, depending on the magnitude of agitation, several physical states - like a gaseous phase for high energy input or a condensed state for low agitation. Here we introduce a new method for quantifying the acoustical response of the granular system. Our experimental system consists of a monodisperse packing of glass beads with a free upper surface, which is confined inside a cylindrical container. An electro-mechanical shaker exerts a sinusoidal vertical vibration at normalized accelerations well above the fluidization threshold for a monolayer of particles. By increasing the number of beads the granular gas suddenly collapses if a critical threshold is exceeded. The transition can be detected easily with a microphone connected to the soundcard of a PC. From the recorded audio track a FFT is calculated in real-time. Depending on either the number of particles at a fixed acceleration or the amount of energy input for a given number of particles, the resulting rattling noise exhibits a power spectrum with either the dominating (shaker) frequency plus higher harmonics for a granular crystal or a high-frequency broad-band noise for a granular gas, respectively. Our new method demonstrates that it is possible to quantify analytically the subjective audio impressions of a careful listener and thus to distinguish easily between different aggregation states of an excited granular system.

Granular-front formation in free-surface flow of concentrated suspensions

Science.gov (United States)

Leonardi, Alessandro; Cabrera, Miguel; Wittel, Falk K.; Kaitna, Roland; Mendoza, Miller; Wu, Wei; Herrmann, Hans J.

2015-11-01

A granular front emerges whenever the free-surface flow of a concentrated suspension spontaneously alters its internal structure, exhibiting a higher concentration of particles close to its front. This is a common and yet unexplained phenomenon, which is usually believed to be the result of fluid convection in combination with particle size segregation. However, suspensions composed of uniformly sized particles also develop a granular front. Within a large rotating drum, a stationary recirculating avalanche is generated. The flowing material is a mixture of a viscoplastic fluid obtained from a kaolin-water dispersion with spherical ceramic particles denser than the fluid. The goal is to mimic the composition of many common granular-fluid materials, such as fresh concrete or debris flow. In these materials, granular and fluid phases have the natural tendency to separate due to particle settling. However, through the shearing caused by the rotation of the drum, a reorganization of the phases is induced, leading to the formation of a granular front. By tuning the particle concentration and the drum velocity, it is possible to control this phenomenon. The setting is reproduced in a numerical environment, where the fluid is solved by a lattice-Boltzmann method, and the particles are explicitly represented using the discrete element method. The simulations confirm the findings of the experiments, and provide insight into the internal mechanisms. Comparing the time scale of particle settling with the one of particle recirculation, a nondimensional number is defined, and is found to be effective in predicting the formation of a granular front.

Numerical and experimental approaches to study soil transport and clogging in granular filters

Science.gov (United States)

Kanarska, Y.; Smith, J. J.; Ezzedine, S. M.; Lomov, I.; Glascoe, L. G.

2012-12-01

Failure of a dam by erosion ranks among the most serious accidents in civil engineering. The best way to prevent internal erosion is using adequate granular filters in the transition areas where important hydraulic gradients can appear. In case of cracking and erosion, if the filter is capable of retaining the eroded particles, the crack will seal and the dam safety will be ensured. Numerical modeling has proved to be a cost-effective tool for improving our understanding of physical processes. Traditionally, the consideration of flow and particle transport in porous media has focused on treating the media as continuum. Practical models typically address flow and transport based on the Darcy's law as a function of a pressure gradient and a medium-dependent permeability parameter. Additional macroscopic constitutes describe porosity, and permeability changes during the migration of a suspension through porous media. However, most of them rely on empirical correlations, which often need to be recalibrated for each application. Grain-scale modeling can be used to gain insight into scale dependence of continuum macroscale parameters. A finite element numerical solution of the Navier-Stokes equations for fluid flow together with Lagrange multiplier technique for solid particles was applied to the simulation of soil filtration in the filter layers of gravity dam. The numerical approach was validated through comparison of numerical simulations with the experimental results of base soil particle clogging in the filter layers performed at ERDC. The numerical simulation correctly predicted flow and pressure decay due to particle clogging. The base soil particle distribution was almost identical to those measured in the laboratory experiment. It is believed that the agreement between simulations and experimental data demonstrates the applicability of the proposed approach for prediction of the soil transport and clogging in embankment dams. To get more precise understanding of

Nonlinear instability and convection in a vertically vibrated granular bed

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Shukla, P.; Ansari, I.H.; van der Meer, Roger M.; Lohse, Detlef; Alam, M.

2014-01-01

The nonlinear instability of the density-inverted granular Leidenfrost state and the resulting convective motion in strongly shaken granular matter are analysed via a weakly nonlinear analysis of the hydrodynamic equations. The base state is assumed to be quasi-steady and the effect of harmonic

Event-Based User Classification in Weibo Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liang Guo

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Weibo media, known as the real-time microblogging services, has attracted massive attention and support from social network users. Weibo platform offers an opportunity for people to access information and changes the way people acquire and disseminate information significantly. Meanwhile, it enables people to respond to the social events in a more convenient way. Much of the information in Weibo media is related to some events. Users who post different contents, and exert different behavior or attitude may lead to different contribution to the specific event. Therefore, classifying the large amount of uncategorized social circles generated in Weibo media automatically from the perspective of events has been a promising task. Under this circumstance, in order to effectively organize and manage the huge amounts of users, thereby further managing their contents, we address the task of user classification in a more granular, event-based approach in this paper. By analyzing real data collected from Sina Weibo, we investigate the Weibo properties and utilize both content information and social network information to classify the numerous users into four primary groups: celebrities, organizations/media accounts, grassroots stars, and ordinary individuals. The experiments results show that our method identifies the user categories accurately.

COMPORTAMIENTO RESILIENTE DE MATERIALES GRANULARES EN PAVIMENTOS FLEXIBLES: ESTADO DEL CONOCIMIENTO RESILIENT BEHAVIOR OF GRANULAR MATERIALS IN FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS: STATE OF THE ART

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Alexander Rondón Quintana

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Los vehículos que circulan sobre una estructura de pavimento inducen ciclos de carga y descarga que generan dentro de las capas granulares deformaciones recuperables (resilientes y permanentes (plásticas. La ingeniería de pavimentos ha venido desarrollando estudios desde la década de los 60 con el fin de intentar comprender el comportamiento elastoplástico que experimentan materiales granulares cuando conforman capas de base y subbase en estructuras flexibles. La mayor parte de las investigaciones que se han realizado en esta área se han concentrado en estudiar su comportamiento resiliente. El estado del conocimiento de estudios desarrollados para medir la respuesta resiliente y la deformación permanente en materiales granulares es presentado en dos artículos por separado. En este primer artículo se presenta la forma como ha sido estudiado el comportamiento resiliente de materiales granulares y se discuten los factores que influyen en dicho comportamiento. Al final del artículo se presenta la evolución de las ecuaciones matemáticas desarrolladas a partir de resultados de estudios teóricos y experimentales. Un estado del conocimiento sobre el fenómeno de deformación permanente es presentado en un segundo artículo.When vehicles move on a pavement structure, they induce load cycles that generate resilient and permanent strains inside granular layers. Since the 60's, pavement engineering has developed studies in order to understand the elasto-plastic behavior that granular materials experiment on base and sub-base layers of flexible pavements. Most of the researches that have been made in this area have concentrated in studying their resilient behavior. A state of the art about the behavior of granular materials in flexible pavements is presented in two separate papers. This first paper tries on resilient stress-strain characteristics of such materials. The mathematical equations found in the literature to predict the resilient

Contact angles of water-repellent porous media inferred by tensiometer - TDR probe measurement under controlled wetting and drying cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Subedi, Shaphal; Kawamoto, Ken; Komatsu, Toshiko

2013-01-01

with water, eventually allowing water imbibition. However, the effect of the reduction in CA with soil-water contact time on the water retention function of hydrophobic media is not yet fully understood. In this study, water retention characteristics were measured using a hanging water column apparatus...... retention curves. For both water-repellent VAS and hydrophobized sand samples, the calculated CA–SWRC increased with increasing WR. This was determined from both the water drop penetration time and the initial contact angle (CAi) by the sessile drop method. Calculated CA–SWRC values ranged from 20° to 48......-filled pore distributions under controlled wetting and drying cycles was found on calculating the soil water capacity and pore size density as a function of water potential....

Effective transport properties for the pyridine-granular activated carbon adsorption system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. A. Baz-Rodríguez

2012-09-01

Full Text Available In this work, the kinetics of pyridine adsorption onto granular activated carbon was studied from the point of view of an up-scaling process by using the method of volume averaging. The pore and surface effective diffusivities were estimated by supposing simple microscale geometries (ordered media of cylinders and spheres and those of images processed from SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy micrographs. In addition, as a rough estimate, the point surface diffusivity is reported. The results revealed that the up-scaled diffusional model satisfactorily interpreted the concentration decay curves and the effective diffusivity was found to be an increasing function of the concentration, mainly due to the contribution of surface diffusion. In general, the diffusivity coefficients involved in the adsorption system are related through the expression molecular diffusivity = 22 ï‚' point surface diffusivity = 5/2 x‚' pore effective diffusivity = 1/12 x ‚' surface effective diffusivity.

Comparison of Wet and Dry Grinding in Electromagnetic Mill

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szymon Ogonowski

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Comparison of dry and wet grinding process in an electromagnetic mill is presented in this paper. The research was conducted in a batch copper ore grinding. Batch mode allows for precise parametrization and constant repetitive conditions of the experiments. The following key aspects were tested: processing time, feed size, size of the grinding media, mass of the material and graining media, and density of the pulp. The particles size distribution of the product samples was analyzed in the laboratory after each experiment. The paper discusses the experimental results as well as the concept of dry and wet grinding and classification circuits for the electromagnetic mill. The main points of the discussion are the size reduction effectiveness and power consumption of the entire system.

21 CFR 866.2480 - Quality control kit for culture media.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Quality control kit for culture media. 866.2480... control kit for culture media. (a) Identification. A quality control kit for culture media is a device...-dried, viable microorganism, intended for medical purposes to determine if a given culture medium is...

Submammary Granular Parakeratosis Treated With Mastopexy.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Garrett; Lien, Mary H; Messina, Jane L; Ranjit, Sonali; Fenske, Neil Alan

2017-08-01

Granular parakeratosis, originally named axillary granular parakeratosis, is an uncommon disease with an unclear etiology. It is thought to result from defective processing of profillagrin to fillagrin, causing retention of keratohyaline granules in the epidermis. A myriad of causative factors has been proposed, including friction, moisture, heat, and contact irritants such as deodorants. We present a case in the inframammary area that resolved with mastopexy, further supporting the role of friction, moisture, and heat. Furthermore, we present electron microscopic evidence demonstrating non-degraded keratohyaline granules upon epidermal maturation. This entity, we believe, is reactive and represents a protective response of the body to moisture and heat. J Drugs Dermatol. 2017;16(8):810-812..

Tumor of granular cells of esophagus

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez Fabian, Licet; Diaz Anaya, Amnia; Perez de la Torre, Georgina

2010-01-01

Granular cells tumors are rare and asymptomatic lesions and by general, it is an incidental finding en high or low endoscopy. They were described for the first time by Abrikossoff in 1926. The more frequent locations are the buccal mucosa, dermis and subcutaneous cellular tissue, most of these tumors has a benign origin. This is the case of a woman aged 44 with a pyrosis history from a year ago; by high endoscopy it is noted a 8 mm lesion distal to esophagus and confirmed by histological study of granular cells tumor. Elective treatment of this lesion is the endoscopic polypectomy. Despite that the malign potential is low; we suggested a close clinical and endoscopic follow-up.

Traffic and Granular Flow ’07

CERN Document Server

Chevoir, François; Gondret, Philippe; Lassarre, Sylvain; Lebacque, Jean-Patrick; Schreckenberg, Michael

2009-01-01

This book covers several research fields, all of which deal with transport. Three main topics are treated: road traffic, granular matter, and biological transport. Different points of view, i.e. modelling, simulations, experiments, and phenomenological observations, are considered. Sub-topics include: highway or urban vehicular traffic (dynamics of traffic, macro/micro modelling, measurements, data analysis, security issues, psychological issues), pedestrian traffic, animal traffic (e.g. social insects), collective motion in biological systems (molecular motors...), granular flow (dense flows, intermittent flows, solid/liquid transition, jamming, force networks, fluid and solid friction), networks (biological networks, urban traffic, the internet, vulnerability of networks, optimal transport networks) and cellular automata applied to the various aforementioned fields.

Navier-Stokes hydrodynamics of thermal collapse in a freely cooling granular gas.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolvin, Itamar; Livne, Eli; Meerson, Baruch

2010-08-01

We show that, in dimension higher than one, heat diffusion and viscosity cannot arrest thermal collapse in a freely evolving dilute granular gas, even in the absence of gravity. Thermal collapse involves a finite-time blowup of the gas density. It was predicted earlier in ideal, Euler hydrodynamics of dilute granular gases in the absence of gravity, and in nonideal, Navier-Stokes granular hydrodynamics in the presence of gravity. We determine, analytically and numerically, the dynamic scaling laws that characterize the gas flow close to collapse. We also investigate bifurcations of a freely evolving dilute granular gas in circular and wedge-shaped containers. Our results imply that, in general, thermal collapse can only be arrested when the gas density becomes comparable with the close-packing density of grains. This provides a natural explanation to the formation of densely packed clusters of particles in a variety of initially dilute granular flows.

Failure evolution in granular material retained by rigid wall in active mode

Science.gov (United States)

Pietrzak, Magdalena; Leśniewska, Danuta

2012-10-01

This paper presents a detailed study of a selected small scale model test, performed on a sample of surrogate granular material, retained by a rigid wall (typical geotechnical problem of earth thrust on a retaining wall). The experimental data presented in this paper show that the deformation of granular sample behind retaining wall can undergo some cyclic changes. The nature of these cycles is not clear - it is probably related to some micromechanical features of granular materials, which are recently extensively studied in many research centers in the world. Employing very precise DIC (PIV) method can help to relate micro and macro-scale behavior of granular materials.

Granular Leidenfrost effect: Experiment and theory of floating particle clusters

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eshuis, Peter; Eshuis, P.G.; van der Meer, Roger M.; van der Weele, J.P.; Lohse, Detlef

2005-01-01

Granular material is vertically vibrated in a 2D container: above a critical shaking strength, and for a sufficient number of beads, a crystalline cluster is elevated and supported by a dilute gaseous layer of fast beads underneath. We call this phenomenon the granular Leidenfrost effect. The

Adsorption Study of Cobalt on Treated Granular Activated Carbon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. V. Hete

2012-01-01

Full Text Available This study is carried out for the removal of cobalt from aqueous solution using granular activated carbon in combination with p-nitro benzoic acid at temperature 25±1 °C. The adsorption isotherm of cobalt on granular activated carbon has been determined and the data fitted reasonably well to the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm for activated carbon.

Granular computing in decision approximation an application of rough mereology

CERN Document Server

Polkowski, Lech

2015-01-01

This book presents a study in knowledge discovery in data with knowledge understood as a set of relations among objects and their properties. Relations in this case are implicative decision rules and the paradigm in which they are induced is that of computing with granules defined by rough inclusions, the latter introduced and studied  within rough mereology, the fuzzified version of mereology. In this book basic classes of rough inclusions are defined and based on them methods for inducing granular structures from data are highlighted. The resulting granular structures are subjected to classifying algorithms, notably k—nearest  neighbors and bayesian classifiers. Experimental results are given in detail both in tabular and visualized form for fourteen data sets from UCI data repository. A striking feature of granular classifiers obtained by this approach is that preserving the accuracy of them on original data, they reduce  substantially the size of the granulated data set as well as the set of granular...

Disinfection of bacteria attached to granular activated carbon.

Science.gov (United States)

LeChevallier, M W; Hassenauer, T S; Camper, A K; McFeters, G A

1984-01-01

Heterotrophic plate count bacteria, coliform organisms, and pathogenic microorganisms attached to granular activated carbon particles were examined for their susceptibility to chlorine disinfection. When these bacteria were grown on carbon particles and then disinfected with 2.0 mg of chlorine per liter (1.4 to 1.6 mg of free chlorine residual per liter after 1 h) for 1 h, no significant decrease in viable counts was observed. Washed cells attached to the surface of granular activated carbon particles showed similar resistance to chlorine, but a progressive increase in sublethal injury was found. Observations made by scanning electron microscope indicated that granular activated carbon was colonized by bacteria which grow in cracks and crevices and are coated by an extracellular slime layer. These data suggest a possible mechanism by which treatment and disinfection barriers can be penetrated and pathogenic bacteria may enter drinking water supplies. Images PMID:6508306

Granular contact dynamics using mathematical programming methods

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krabbenhoft, K.; Lyamin, A. V.; Huang, J.

2012-01-01

granular contact dynamics formulation uses an implicit time discretization, thus allowing for large time steps. Moreover, in the limit of an infinite time step, the general dynamic formulation reduces to a static formulation that is useful in simulating common quasi-static problems such as triaxial tests...... is developed and it is concluded that the associated sliding rule, in the context of granular contact dynamics, may be viewed as an artifact of the time discretization and that the use of an associated flow rule at the particle scale level generally is physically acceptable. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights...

International Workshop on Traffic and Granular Flow

CERN Document Server

Herrmann, Hans; Schreckenberg, Michael; Wolf, Dietrich; Social, Traffic and Granular Dynamics

2000-01-01

"Are there common phenomena and laws in the dynamic behavior of granular materials, traffic, and socio-economic systems?" The answers given at the international workshop "Traffic and Granular Flow '99" are presented in this volume. From a physical standpoint, all these systems can be treated as (self)-driven many-particle systems with strong fluctuations, showing multistability, phase transitions, non-linear waves, etc. The great interest in these systems is due to several unexpected new discoveries and their practical relevance for solving some fundamental problems of today's societies. This includes intelligent measures for traffic flow optimization and methods from "econophysics" for stabilizing (stock) markets.

Granular cells Tumor in the gastrointestinal tract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Castano LL, Rodrigo; Gaitan B, Maria H; Juliao E, Fabian

2005-01-01

Granular cells tumors are ubiquitous lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, are rare and asymptomatic and they are generally an incidental discovery at gastroduodenoscopy or colonoscopy. In the gastrointestinal tract they are more frequently located in the esophagus, right colon and rectum, stomach, appendix, small intestine or biliopancreatic tract. This article describes three patients with four tumors of granular cells in rectum, esophagus (2 lesions) and appendix. It becomes special emphasis in their neural origin, their benign behavior that justifies the endoscopic resections or limited surgical excisions and the necessity of a pursuit for the possibility, although little, of malignant transformation

Rheological Behavior of Dense Assemblies of Granular Materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sundaresan, Sankaran; Tardos, Gabriel I.; Subramaniam, Shankar

2011-01-01

Assemblies of granular materials behave differently when they are owing rapidly, from when they are slowly deforming. The behavior of rapidly owing granular materials, where the particle-particle interactions occur largely through binary collisions, is commonly related to the properties of the constituent particles through the kinetic theory of granular materials. The same cannot be said for slowly moving or static assemblies of granular materials, where enduring contacts between particles are prevalent. For instance, a continuum description of the yield characteristics of dense assemblies of particles in the quasistatic ow regime cannot be written explicitly on the basis of particle properties, even for cohesionless particles. Continuum models for this regime have been proposed and applied, but these models typically assume that the assembly is at incipient yield and they are expressed in terms of the yield function, which we do not yet know how to express in terms of particle-level properties. The description of the continuum rheology in the intermediate regime is even less understood. Yet, many practically important flows in nature and in a wide range of technological applications occur in the dense flow regime and at the transition between dilute and dense regimes; the lack of validated continuum rheological models for particle assemblies in these regimes limits predictive modeling of such flows. This research project is aimed at developing such rheological models.

Advanced Granular System Modeling, Phase I

Data.gov (United States)

National Aeronautics and Space Administration — Spaceports of the future will utilize new granular materials in unique applications including insulation for cryogenic tanks and Lunar regolith processing for usable...

Environmental considerations on the FBC combustion of dry sewage sludge

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lopes, M. Helena; Abelha, Pedro; Gulyurtlu, Ibrahim; Cabrita, Isabel [INETI/DEECA, Lisboa (Portugal)

2001-07-01

This paper presents results of on-going research on the incineration of pre-dried granular sewage sludges using a FBC system. Co-combustion is compared with mono-combustion of sludges leads to minor emissions and higher retention of Cd, Pb, Cu, and Zn in the bottom ashes, when compared to co-combustion with coal. The leachability of the sludge is reduced through combustion, as none of the metals, Cd, Cr, Ca Ni, Ph, Zn, Co and Mn were leached from the bottom ashes. These findings may contribute to an improvement in the incineration of sewage sludges and to the development of applications for the ashes in civil engineering activities.

Intermediate layer thickness dependence on switching field distribution in perpendicular recording media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sbiaa, R.; Gandhi, R.; Srinivasan, K.; Piramanayagam, S.N.; Seoh, R.M.

2009-01-01

The effect of intermediate layer (IL) thickness on crystallographic texture and magnetic properties of CoCrPtSiO 2 granular perpendicular recording media was investigated with switching field distribution (SFD) as the focus. Even though the c-axis orientation of the Co-based recording layer (RL) broadens with the reduction of IL thickness, the SFD becomes narrower. This result demonstrates that the intrinsic SFD is not directly dependent on c-axis orientation of the recording layer but instead dependent on the magnitude of exchange coupling. It is thus possible to have a medium with thin IL and narrow SFD. This is desirable for bit-patterned media (BPM), where highly exchange-coupled grains are required.

Boundary effects in a quasi-two-dimensional driven granular fluid.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, N D; Smith, M I

2017-12-01

The effect of a confining boundary on the spatial variations in granular temperature of a driven quasi-two-dimensional layer of particles is investigated experimentally. The radial drop in the relative granular temperature ΔT/T exhibits a maximum at intermediate particle numbers which coincides with a crossover from kinetic to collisional transport of energy. It is also found that at low particle numbers, the distributions of radial velocities are increasingly asymmetric as one approaches the boundary. The radial and tangential granular temperatures split, and in the tails of the radial velocity distribution there is a higher population of fast moving particles traveling away rather than towards the boundary.

On creating macroscopically identical granular systems with different numbers of particles

Science.gov (United States)

van der Meer, Devaraj; Rivas, Nicolas

2015-11-01

One of the fundamental differences between granular and molecular hydrodynamics is the enormous difference in the total number of constituents. The small number of particles implies that the role of fluctuations in granular dynamics is of paramount importance. To obtain more insight in these fluctuations, we investigate to what extent it is possible to create identical granular hydrodynamic states with different number of particles. A definition is given of macroscopically equivalent systems, and the dependency of the conservation equations on the particle size is studied. We show that, in certain cases, and by appropriately scaling the microscopic variables, we are able to compare systems with significantly different number of particles that present the same macroscopic phenomenology. We apply these scalings in simulations of a vertically vibrated system, namely the density inverted granular Leidenfrost state and its transition to a buoyancy-driven convective state.

Experimental and analytical investigations of granular materials: Shear flow and convective heat transfer

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, Hojin

1989-12-01

Granular materials flowing down an inclined chute were studied experimentally and analytically. Characteristics of convective heat transfer to granular flows were also investigated experimentally and numerically. Experiments on continuous, steady flows of granular materials in an inclined chute were conducted with the objectives of understanding the characteristics of chute flows and of acquiring information on the rheological behavior of granular material flow. Existing constitutive equations and governing equations were used to solve for fully developed chute flows of granular materials, and thus the boundary value problem was formulated with two parameters (the coefficient of restitution between particles, and the chute inclination) and three boundary values at the chute base wall (the values of solid fraction, granular temperature, and mean velocity at the wall). The boundary value problem was numerically solved by the shooting method. These analytical results were also compared with the present experimental values and with the computer simulations by other investigators in their literature. Experiments on heat transfer to granular flows over a flat heating plate were conducted with three sizes of glass beads, polystyrene beads, and mustard seeds. A modification on the existing model for the convective heat transfer was made using the effective Nusselt number and the effective Peclet number, which include the effects of solid fraction variations. The slightly modified model could describe the heat transfer characteristics of both fast and slow flows (supercritical and subcritical). A numerical analysis of the transfer to granular flows was also performed. The results were compared with the present experimental data, and reasonable agreement was found in the comparison.

An automata model of granular materials

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gutt, G.M.; Haff, P.K.

1990-01-01

In this paper a new modeling technique (the Lattice Grain Model) is presented for the simulation of two-dimensional granular systems involving large numbers of grains. These granular systems may include both high shear rate regions as well as static plugs of grains and cannot easily be handled within the framework of existing continuum theories such as soil mechanics. The Lattice Grain Model (LGrM) is similar to the Lattice Gas Model (LBM). This allows large simulations to be programmed onto a hypercube concurrent processor in a straightforward manner. However, it differs from LBM in that it includes the inelastic collisions and volume-filling properties of macroscopic grains. Examples to be presented will include Couette flow, flow through an hourglass, and gravity-driven flows around obstacles

Slow creep in soft granular packings.

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, Ishan; Fisher, Timothy S

2017-05-14

Transient creep mechanisms in soft granular packings are studied numerically using a constant pressure and constant stress simulation method. Rapid compression followed by slow dilation is predicted on the basis of a logarithmic creep phenomenon. Characteristic scales of creep strain and time exhibit a power-law dependence on jamming pressure, and they diverge at the jamming point. Microscopic analysis indicates the existence of a correlation between rheology and nonaffine fluctuations. Localized regions of large strain appear during creep and grow in magnitude and size at short times. At long times, the spatial structure of highly correlated local deformation becomes time-invariant. Finally, a microscale connection between local rheology and local fluctuations is demonstrated in the form of a linear scaling between granular fluidity and nonaffine velocity.

Reducing the startup time of aerobic granular sludge reactors through seeding floccular sludge with crushed aerobic granules.

Science.gov (United States)

Pijuan, Maite; Werner, Ursula; Yuan, Zhiguo

2011-10-15

One of the main challenging issues for the aerobic granular sludge technology is the long startup time when dealing with real wastewaters. This study presents a novel strategy to reduce the time required for granulation while ensuring a high level of nutrient removal. This new approach consists of seeding the reactor with a mixture of crushed aerobic granules and floccular sludge. The effectiveness of the strategy was demonstrated using abattoir wastewater, containing nitrogen and phosphorus at approximately 250 mgN/L and 30 mgP/L, respectively. Seven different mixtures of crushed granules and floccular sludge at granular sludge fractions (w/w in dry mass) of 0%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 25%, 30% and 50% were used to start eight granulation processes. The granulation time (defined as the time when the 10th percentile bacterial aggregate size is larger than 200 μm) displayed a strong dependency on the fraction of granular sludge. The shortest granulation time of 18 days was obtained with 50% crushed granules, in comparison with 133 days with 5% crushed granules. Full granulation was not achieved in the two trials without seeding with crushed granules. In contrast to the 100% floccular sludge cases, where a substantial loss of biomass occurred during granulation, the biomass concentration in all other trails did not decrease during granulation. This allowed that good nitrogen removal was maintained in all the reactors during the granulation process. However, enhanced biological phosphorus removal was achieved in only one of the eight trials. This was likely due to the temporary accumulation of nitrite, a strong inhibitor of polyphosphate accumulating organisms. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Kinetic Theory of Granular Gases

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Trizac, Emmanuel

2005-01-01

coefficients, that are again velocity dependent. Th is seems to be the price of a consistent approach, which does not lend itself to much insight. In addition, the behaviour of driven systems is not addressed, whereas in the realm of granular media, force-free systems are the exception rather than the rule. The differences between constant ε and visco-elastic models is presumably less pronounced in the driven case. Study of driven systems also reveals that the rheology of granular gases is intrinsically non-Newtonian, which is a key feature. Finally, the powerful direct simulation Monte Carlo technique is not described, whereas it is an important tool, particularly relevant for the physics of the Boltzmann equation, and straightforward to implement in its simplest version. N Brilliantov and T Poeschel concentrate on the (equally relevant) molecular dynamics method instead. In conclusion, the book fills a gap in the field. The companion webpage from where molecular dynamics and symbolic algebra programs can be downloaded is also useful. (book review)

Kinetic Theory of Granular Gases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trizac, Emmanuel [Center of Theoretical Biological Physics, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093-0374 (United States); Laboratoire de Physique Theorique et Modeles Statistiques, Campus Universitaire, 91405 Orsay (France)

2005-11-25

tangential and normal restitution coefficients, that are again velocity dependent. Th is seems to be the price of a consistent approach, which does not lend itself to much insight. In addition, the behaviour of driven systems is not addressed, whereas in the realm of granular media, force-free systems are the exception rather than the rule. The differences between constant {epsilon} and visco-elastic models is presumably less pronounced in the driven case. Study of driven systems also reveals that the rheology of granular gases is intrinsically non-Newtonian, which is a key feature. Finally, the powerful direct simulation Monte Carlo technique is not described, whereas it is an important tool, particularly relevant for the physics of the Boltzmann equation, and straightforward to implement in its simplest version. N Brilliantov and T Poeschel concentrate on the (equally relevant) molecular dynamics method instead. In conclusion, the book fills a gap in the field. The companion webpage from where molecular dynamics and symbolic algebra programs can be downloaded is also useful. (book review)

Discrete Element Method for Modeling the Mechanical Behavior of Unsaturated Granular Material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Tourani

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Although a significant portion of conditions encountered in geotechnical engineering, for investigating engineering behavior of soil, involves unsaturated soils; the traditional analysis and design approach has been to assume the limiting conditions of soils being either completely dry or completely saturated. In unsaturated soils the capillary force produce attractive forces between particles. Discrete Element Method (DEM is an appropriate tool to consider the capillary effects. The calculations performed in DEM is based on iterative application of Newton’s second law to the particles and force-displacement law at the contacts. In the present study, the behavior of unsaturated soils in pendular regime is simulated utilizing DEM. Triaxial  compression tests were modeled as two-dimensional, considering capillary force effects. Finally, capillary effects on Macro parameters of a simulated granular soil (stress, axial strain, volumetric strain and void ratio and Mohr Coulomb failure criteria parameters were studied.

Effect of Wetting and Contamination of Granular Beds During Sphere Impact

KAUST Repository

Kouraytem, Nadia

2013-01-01

This thesis presents results from an experimental study of the impact of dense solid spheres onto granular beds. The overall aim is to further our understanding of the dynamical response of granular materials to impact. In order to do this, we

Biotin- and Glycoprotein-Coated Microspheres as Surrogates for Studying Filtration Removal of Cryptosporidium parvum in a Granular Limestone Aquifer Medium.

Science.gov (United States)

Stevenson, M E; Blaschke, A P; Toze, S; Sidhu, J P S; Ahmed, W; van Driezum, I H; Sommer, R; Kirschner, A K T; Cervero-Aragó, S; Farnleitner, A H; Pang, L

2015-07-01

Members of the genus Cryptosporidium are waterborne protozoa of great health concern. Many studies have attempted to find appropriate surrogates for assessing Cryptosporidium filtration removal in porous media. In this study, we evaluated the filtration of Cryptosporidium parvum in granular limestone medium by the use of biotin- and glycoprotein-coated carboxylated polystyrene microspheres (CPMs) as surrogates. Column experiments were carried out with core material taken from a managed aquifer recharge site in Adelaide, Australia. For the experiments with injection of a single type of particle, we observed the total removal of the oocysts and glycoprotein-coated CPMs, a 4.6- to 6.3-log10 reduction of biotin-coated CPMs, and a 2.6-log10 reduction of unmodified CPMs. When two different types of particles were simultaneously injected, glycoprotein-coated CPMs showed a 5.3-log10 reduction, while the uncoated CPMs displayed a 3.7-log10 reduction, probably due to particle-particle interactions. Our results confirm that glycoprotein-coated CPMs are the most accurate surrogates for C. parvum; biotin-coated CPMs are slightly more conservative, while unmodified CPMs are markedly overly conservative for predicting C. parvum removal in granular limestone medium. The total removal of C. parvum observed in our study suggests that granular limestone medium is very effective for the filtration removal of C. parvum and could potentially be used for the pretreatment of drinking water and aquifer storage recovery of recycled water. Copyright © 2015, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Density profiles of granular gases studied by molecular dynamics and Brownian bridges

Science.gov (United States)

Peñuñuri, F.; Montoya, J. A.; Carvente, O.

2018-02-01

Despite the inherent frictional forces and dissipative collisions, confined granular matter can be regarded as a system in a stationary state if we inject energy continuously. Under these conditions, both the density and the granular temperature are, in general, non-monotonic variables along the height of the container. In consequence, an analytical description of a granular system is hard to conceive. Here, by using molecular dynamics simulations, we measure the packing fraction profiles for a vertically vibrating three-dimensional granular system in several gaseous-like stationary states. We show that by using the Brownian bridge concept, the determined packing fraction profiles can be reproduced accurately and give a complete description of the distribution of the particles inside the simulation box.

Capillary-Driven Solute Transport and Precipitation in Porous Media during Dry-Out

Science.gov (United States)

Ott, Holger; Andrew, Matthew; Blunt, Martin; Snippe, Jeroen

2014-05-01

The injection of dry or under-saturated gases or supercritical (SC) fluids into water bearing formations might lead to a formation dry-out in the vicinity of the injection well. The dry-out is caused by the evaporation/dissolution of formation water into the injected fluid and the subsequent transport of dissolved water in the injected fluid away from the injection well. Dry-out results in precipitation from solutes of the formation brine and consequently leads to a reduction of the rock's pore space (porosity) and eventually to a reduction of permeability near the injection well, or even to the loss of injectivity. Recently evidence has been found that the complexity of the pore space and the respective capillary driven solute transport plays a key role. While no effective-permeability (Keff) reduction was observed in a single-porosity sandstone, multi porosity carbonate rocks responded to precipitation with a strong reduction of Keff. The reason for the different response of Keff to salt precipitation is suspected to be in the exact location of the precipitate (solid salt) in the pore space. In this study, we investigate dry-out and salt precipitation due to supercritical CO2 injection in single and multi-porosity systems under near well-bore conditions. We image fluid saturation changes by means of μCT scanning during desaturation. We are able to observe capillary driven transport of the brine phase and the respective transport of solutes on the rock's pore scale. Finally we have access to the precipitated solid-salt phase and their distribution. The results can proof the thought models behind permeability porosity relationships K(φ) for injectivity modeling. The topic and the mechanisms we show are of general interest for drying processes in porous material such as soils and paper.

Rough – Granular Computing knowledge discovery models

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed M. Eissa

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Medical domain has become one of the most important areas of research in order to richness huge amounts of medical information about the symptoms of diseases and how to distinguish between them to diagnose it correctly. Knowledge discovery models play vital role in refinement and mining of medical indicators to help medical experts to settle treatment decisions. This paper introduces four hybrid Rough – Granular Computing knowledge discovery models based on Rough Sets Theory, Artificial Neural Networks, Genetic Algorithm and Rough Mereology Theory. A comparative analysis of various knowledge discovery models that use different knowledge discovery techniques for data pre-processing, reduction, and data mining supports medical experts to extract the main medical indicators, to reduce the misdiagnosis rates and to improve decision-making for medical diagnosis and treatment. The proposed models utilized two medical datasets: Coronary Heart Disease dataset and Hepatitis C Virus dataset. The main purpose of this paper was to explore and evaluate the proposed models based on Granular Computing methodology for knowledge extraction according to different evaluation criteria for classification of medical datasets. Another purpose is to make enhancement in the frame of KDD processes for supervised learning using Granular Computing methodology.

Flowability of granular materials with industrial applications - An experimental approach

Science.gov (United States)

Torres-Serra, Joel; Romero, Enrique; Rodríguez-Ferran, Antonio; Caba, Joan; Arderiu, Xavier; Padullés, Josep-Manel; González, Juanjo

2017-06-01

Designing bulk material handling equipment requires a thorough understanding of the mechanical behaviour of powders and grains. Experimental characterization of granular materials is introduced focusing on flowability. A new prototype is presented which performs granular column collapse tests. The device consists of a channel whose design accounts for test inspection using visualization techniques and load measurements. A reservoir is attached where packing state of the granular material can be adjusted before run-off to simulate actual handling conditions by fluidisation and deaeration of the pile. Bulk materials on the market, with a wide range of particle sizes, can be tested with the prototype and the results used for classification in terms of flowability to improve industrial equipment selection processes.

Characterization, Modeling and Application of Aerobic Granular Sludge for Wastewater Treatment

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xian-Wei; Yu, Han-Qing; Ni, Bing-Jie; Sheng, Guo-Ping

Recently extensive studies have been carried out to cultivate aerobic granular sludge worldwide, including in China. Aerobic granules, compared with conventional activated sludge flocs, are well known for their regular, dense, and strong microbial structure, good settling ability, high biomass retention, and great ability to withstand shock loadings. Studies have shown that the aerobic granules could be applied for the treatment of low- or high-strength wastewaters, simultaneous removal of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and decomposition of toxic wastewaters. Thus, this new form of activate sludge, like anaerobic granular sludge, could be employed for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewaters in near future. This chapter attempts to provide an up-to-date review on the definition, cultivation, characterization, modeling and application of aerobic granular sludge for biological wastewater treatment. This review outlines some important discoveries with regard to the factors affecting the formation of aerobic granular sludge, their physicochemical characteristics, as well as their microbial structure and diversity. It also summarizes the modeling of aerobic granule formation. Finally, this chapter highlights the applications of aerobic granulation technology in the biological wastewater treatment. It is concluded that the knowledge regarding aerobic granular sludge is far from complete. Although previous studies in this field have undoubtedly improved our understanding on aerobic granular sludge, it is clear that much remains to be learned about the process and that many unanswered questions still remain. One of the challenges appears to be the integration of the existing and growing scientific knowledge base with the observations and applications in practice, which this paper hopes to partially achieve.

Superconductivity effects near metal-insulator transition in granular idnium films

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belevtsev, B.I.; Komnik, Yu.F.; Fomin, A.V.

1986-01-01

The influence of granules superconductivity on the electric properties of granular indium films is investigated under the conditions of partial or full granular localization of electrons. At temperatures below 5 K a minimum of electric resistance and negative magnetoresistance are revealed which are attributed to the competition of hopping conductivity and Josephson intergranular tunneling of electrons

Traffic and Granular Flow’05

CERN Document Server

Pöschel, Thorsten; Kühne, Reinhart; Schreckenberg, Michael; Wolf, Dietrich

2007-01-01

The conference series Tra?c and Granular Flow has been established in 1995 and has since then been held biannually. At that time, the investigation of granular materials and tra?c was still somewhat exotic and was just starting to become popular among physicists. Originally the idea behind this conference series was to facilitate the c- vergence of the two ?elds, inspired by the similarities of certain phenomena and the use of similar theoretical methods. However, in recent years it has become clear that probably the di?erences between the two systems are much more interesting than the similarities. Nevertheless, the importance of various interrelations among these ?elds is still growing. The workshop continues to o?er an opportunity to stimulate this interdisciplinary research. Over the years the spectrum of topics has become much broader and has included also problems related to topics ranging from social dynamics to - ology. The conference manages to bring together people with rather di?erent background, r...

Magnetoresistances in Ni80Fe20-ITO granular film

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gao Chunhong; Chen Ke; Yang Yanxia; Xiong Yuanqiang; Chen Peng

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Magnetoresistance (MR) in Ni 80 Fe 20 -ITO granular film are investigated. ► MR is positive at high temperature, and is negative at low temperature. ► MR results from the competition among three mechanisms. - Abstract: The magnetic properties, electrical properties and magnetoresistance are investigated in Ni 80 Fe 20 -ITO granular film with various volume fractions V NF of Ni 80 Fe 20 . The room temperature magnetization hysteresis of sample with V NF = 25% shows superparamagnetic behavior. Current-voltage curve of sample with V NF = 25% at 175 K shows typical tunneling-type behavior. The magnetoresistances of samples with low V NF are positive at high temperature, and are negative at low temperature. The temperature-dependent magnetoresistances result from the competition among ordinary magnetoresistances, the granular-typed tunneling magnetoresistance and the spin-mixing induced magnetoresistances.

Granular nanocrystalline zirconia electrolyte layers deposited on porous SOFC cathode substrates

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seydel, Johannes; Becker, Michael; Ivers-Tiffee, Ellen; Hahn, Horst

2009-01-01

Thin granular yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) electrolyte layers were prepared by chemical vapor synthesis and deposition (CVD/CVS) on a porous substoichiometric lanthanum-strontium-manganite (ULSM) solid oxide fuel cell cathode substrate. The substrate porosity was optimized with a screen printed fine porous buffer layer. Structural analysis by scanning electron microscopy showed a homogeneous, granular nanocrystalline layer with a microstructure that was controlled via reactor settings. The CVD/CVS gas-phase process enabled the deposition of crack-free granular YSZ films on porous ULSM substrates. The electrolyte layers characterized with impedance spectroscopy exhibited enhanced grain boundary conductivity.

Multi-granularity synthesis segmentation for high spatial resolution Remote sensing images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yi, Lina; Liu, Pengfei; Qiao, Xiaojun; Zhang, Xiaoning; Gao, Yuan; Feng, Boyan

2014-01-01

Traditional segmentation method can only partition an image in a single granularity space, with segmentation accuracy limited to the single granularity space. This paper proposes a multi-granularity synthesis segmentation method for high spatial resolution remote sensing images based on a quotient space model. Firstly, we divide the whole image area into multiple granules (regions), each region is consisted of ground objects that have similar optimal segmentation scale, and then select and synthesize the sub-optimal segmentations of each region to get the final segmentation result. To validate this method, the land cover category map is used to guide the scale synthesis of multi-scale image segmentations for Quickbird image land use classification. Firstly, the image is coarsely divided into multiple regions, each region belongs to a certain land cover category. Then multi-scale segmentation results are generated by the Mumford-Shah function based region merging method. For each land cover category, the optimal segmentation scale is selected by the supervised segmentation accuracy assessment method. Finally, the optimal scales of segmentation results are synthesized under the guide of land cover category. Experiments show that the multi-granularity synthesis segmentation can produce more accurate segmentation than that of a single granularity space and benefit the classification

Mathematics and Mechanics of Granular Materials

CERN Document Server

Hill, James M

2005-01-01

Granular or particulate materials arise in almost every aspect of our lives, including many familiar materials such as tea, coffee, sugar, sand, cement and powders. At some stage almost every industrial process involves a particulate material, and it is usually the cause of the disruption to the smooth running of the process. In the natural environment, understanding the behaviour of particulate materials is vital in many geophysical processes such as earthquakes, landslides and avalanches. This book is a collection of current research from some of the major contributors in the topic of modelling the behaviour of granular materials. Papers from every area of current activity are included, such as theoretical, numerical, engineering and computational approaches. This book illustrates the numerous diverse approaches to one of the outstanding problems of modern continuum mechanics.

Accelerated storage testing of freeze-dried Pseudomonas ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Erika-Chris

Full Length Research Paper ... was possible to compare rate constants of survival for the freeze-dried P. fluorescens ... studying and predicting the survival loss rate of the ... Erlenmeyer flask containing 3000 ml King B medium. ... The strain was grown in 20 L bioreactor (Biolafite) containing 15 L .... fermented banana media.

Self-assembly and speed distributions of active granular particles

Science.gov (United States)

Sánchez, R.; Díaz-Leyva, P.

2018-06-01

The relationship between the dynamics of self-propelled systems and the self-assembly of structured clusters are studied via the experimental speed distributions of submonolayers of self-propelled granular particles. A distribution developed for non-self-propelled granular particles describes the speed distributions remarkably well, despite some of the assumptions behind its original derivation not being applicable. This is explained in terms of clustering and dissipation being the key phenomena governing this regime.

Ceramic media amended with metal oxide for the capture of viruses in drinking water.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, J; Sobsey, M D

2009-04-01

Ceramic materials that can adsorb and/or inactivate viruses in water may find widespread application in low-tech drinking-water treatment technologies in developing countries, where porous ceramic filters and ceramic granular media filters are increasingly promoted for that purpose. We examined the adsorption and subsequent inactivation of bacteriophages MS2 and (phiX-174 on five ceramic media in batch adsorption studies to determine media suitability for use in a ceramic water filter application. The media examined were a kaolinitic ceramic medium and four kaolinitic ceramic media amended with iron or aluminium oxides that had been incorporated into the kaolinitic clays before firing. Batch adsorption tests indicate increased sorption and inactivation of surrogate viruses by media amended with Fe and Al oxide, with FeOOH-amended ceramic inactivating all bacteriophages up to 8 log10. Unmodified ceramic was a poor adsorbent of bacteriophages at less than 1 log10 adsorption-inactivation and high recovery of sorbed phages. These studies suggest that contact with ceramic media, modified with electropositive Fe or Al oxides, can reduce bacteriophages in waters to a greater extent than unmodified ceramic.

Spent Nuclear Fuel Cold Vacuum Drying facility comprehensive formal design review report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

HALLER, C.S.

1999-01-01

The majority of the Cold Vacuum Drying Facility (CVDF) design and construction is complete; isolated portions are still in the design and fabrication process. The project commissioned a formal design review to verify the sufficiency and accuracy of current design media to assure that: (1) the design completely and accurately reflects design criteria, (2) design documents are consistent with one another, and (3) the design media accurately reflects the current design. This review is a key element in the design validation and verification activities required by SNF-4396, ''Design Verification and Validation Plan For The Cold Vacuum Drying Facility''. This report documents the results of the formal design review

Association of inclusion body myositis with T cell large granular lymphocytic leukaemia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Greenberg, Steven A; Pinkus, Jack L; Amato, Anthony A

2016-01-01

SEE HOHLFELD AND SCHULZE-KOOPS DOI101093/BRAIN/AWW053 FOR A SCIENTIFIC COMMENTARY ON THIS ARTICLE: Inclusion body myositis and T cell large granular lymphocytic leukaemia are rare diseases involving pathogenic cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. After encountering four patients with both disorders, we...... prospectively screened 38 patients with inclusion body myositis for the presence of expanded large granular lymphocyte populations by standard clinical laboratory methods (flow cytometry, examination of blood smears, and T cell receptor gene rearrangements), and performed muscle immunohistochemistry for CD8, CD......57, and TIA1. Most (22/38; 58%) patients with inclusion body myositis had aberrant populations of large granular lymphocytes in their blood meeting standard diagnostic criteria for T cell large granular lymphocytic leukaemia. These T cell populations were clonal in 20/20 patients and stably present...

Granular chaos and mixing: Whirled in a grain of sand

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shinbrot, Troy, E-mail: shinbrot@rutgers.edu [Department of Biomedical Engineering, Rutgers University, Piscataway, New Jersey 08854 (United States)

2015-09-15

In this paper, we overview examples of chaos in granular flows. We begin by reviewing several remarkable behaviors that have intrigued researchers over the past few decades, and we then focus on three areas in which chaos plays an intrinsic role in granular behavior. First, we discuss pattern formation in vibrated beds, which we show is a direct result of chaotic scattering combined with dynamical dissipation. Next, we consider stick-slip motion, which involves chaotic scattering on the micro-scale, and which results in complex and as yet unexplained peculiarities on the macro-scale. Finally, we examine granular mixing, which we show combines micro-scale chaotic scattering and macro-scale stick-slip motion into behaviors that are well described by dynamical systems tools, such as iterative mappings.

Granular chaos and mixing: Whirled in a grain of sand.

Science.gov (United States)

Shinbrot, Troy

2015-09-01

In this paper, we overview examples of chaos in granular flows. We begin by reviewing several remarkable behaviors that have intrigued researchers over the past few decades, and we then focus on three areas in which chaos plays an intrinsic role in granular behavior. First, we discuss pattern formation in vibrated beds, which we show is a direct result of chaotic scattering combined with dynamical dissipation. Next, we consider stick-slip motion, which involves chaotic scattering on the micro-scale, and which results in complex and as yet unexplained peculiarities on the macro-scale. Finally, we examine granular mixing, which we show combines micro-scale chaotic scattering and macro-scale stick-slip motion into behaviors that are well described by dynamical systems tools, such as iterative mappings.

An update on blast furnace granular coal injection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hill, D.G. [Bethlehem Steel Corp., Burns Harbor, IN (United States); Strayer, T.J.; Bouman, R.W. [Bethlehem Steel Corp., PA (United States)

1997-12-31

A blast furnace coal injection system has been constructed and is being used on the furnace at the Burns Harbor Division of Bethlehem Steel. The injection system was designed to deliver both granular (coarse) and pulverized (fine) coal. Construction was completed on schedule in early 1995. Coal injection rates on the two Burns Harbor furnaces were increased throughout 1995 and was over 200 lbs/ton on C furnace in September. The injection rate on C furnace reached 270 lbs/ton by mid-1996. A comparison of high volatile and low volatile coals as injectants shows that low volatile coal replaces more coke and results in a better blast furnace operation. The replacement ratio with low volatile coal is 0.96 lbs coke per pound of coal. A major conclusion of the work to date is that granular coal injection performs very well in large blast furnaces. Future testing will include a processed sub-bituminous coal, a high ash coal and a direct comparison of granular versus pulverized coal injection.

Breakage mechanics for granular materials in surface-reactive environments

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yida; Buscarnera, Giuseppe

2018-03-01

It is known that the crushing behaviour of granular materials is sensitive to the state of the fluids occupying the pore space. Here, a thermomechanical theory is developed to link such macroscopic observations with the physico-chemical processes operating at the microcracks of individual grains. The theory relies on the hypothesis that subcritical fracture propagation at intra-particle scale is the controlling mechanism for the rate-dependent, water-sensitive compression of granular specimens. First, the fracture of uniaxially compressed particles in surface-reactive environments is studied in light of irreversible thermodynamics. Such analysis recovers the Gibbs adsorption isotherm as a central component linking the reduction of the fracture toughness of a solid to the increase of vapour concentration. The same methodology is then extended to assemblies immersed in wet air, for which solid-fluid interfaces have been treated as a separate phase. It is shown that this choice brings the solid surface energy into the dissipation equations of the granular matrix, thus providing a pathway to (i) integrate the Gibbs isotherm with the continuum description of particle assemblies and (ii) reproduce the reduction of their yield strength in presence of high relative humidity. The rate-effects involved in the propagation of cracks and the evolution of breakage have been recovered by considering non-homogenous dissipation potentials associated with the creation of surface area at both scales. It is shown that the proposed model captures satisfactorily the compression response of different types of granular materials subjected to varying relative humidity. This result was achieved simply by using parameters based on the actual adsorption characteristics of the constituting minerals. The theory therefore provides a physically sound and thermodynamically consistent framework to study the behaviour of granular solids in surface-reactive environments.

Granular flow down a flexible inclined plane

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sonar Prasad

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Discrete and continuous systems are commonly studied individually, but seldom together. Indeed, granular flows are typically studied through flows over a rigid base. Here, we investigate the behaviour of granular flows over an inclined, flexible base. The flexible base is modeled as a rigid platform mounted on springs and has one degree of freedom. The base vibrations are introduced by the flow. We simulate such flows through a discrete element method and compare with experiments. We find that a flexible base increased the upper limit of the inclination up to which a steady flow is possible by at least 3 degrees. This stabilized zone may have important implications in applications such as conveyor belts and chutes.

Granularity as a Cognitive Factor in the Effectiveness of Business Process Model Reuse

Science.gov (United States)

Holschke, Oliver; Rake, Jannis; Levina, Olga

Reusing design models is an attractive approach in business process modeling as modeling efficiency and quality of design outcomes may be significantly improved. However, reusing conceptual models is not a cost-free effort, but has to be carefully designed. While factors such as psychological anchoring and task-adequacy in reuse-based modeling tasks have been investigated, information granularity as a cognitive concept has not been at the center of empirical research yet. We hypothesize that business process granularity as a factor in design tasks under reuse has a significant impact on the effectiveness of resulting business process models. We test our hypothesis in a comparative study employing high and low granularities. The reusable processes provided were taken from widely accessible reference models for the telecommunication industry (enhanced Telecom Operations Map). First experimental results show that Recall in tasks involving coarser granularity is lower than in cases of finer granularity. These findings suggest that decision makers in business process management should be considerate with regard to the implementation of reuse mechanisms of different granularities. We realize that due to our small sample size results are not statistically significant, but this preliminary run shows that it is ready for running on a larger scale.

Introduction

Science.gov (United States)

Starosvetsky, Yuli; Jayaprakash, K. R.; Hasan, Md. Arif; Vakakis, Alexander F.

The study of mechanics of granular media dates back to the era of Coulomb. He was the first to postulate the yield condition for homogeneous solids and also conditions for failure in granular media [1-4]. In fact the ideal Coulomb material is the simplest granular material model wherein the shear stress along a plane is linearly proportional to the normal stress on that plane. This can be considered analogous to the Coulomb friction model in cohesion-free interfaces between solids. Initial research in this domain focused mainly on the statics of granular materials from a soil mechanics perspective. However, as the applications of granular materials broadened, the objectives of different research communities contradicted. For example, in geophysics or soil mechanics the objective is to regard granular media with properties of a solid in order to take considerable loads without yielding; on the other hand, in food grain or pharmaceutical industries the granular media is considered as fluids and their rheological properties are of interest. In fact granular media can exhibit both of these behaviors (and also the properties of a gas), and such unique features pave the way for their broad range applications...

PALLADIUM-FACILITATED ELECTROLYTIC DECHLORINATION OF 2-CHLOROBIPHENYL USING A GRANULAR-GRAPHITE ELECTRODE.

Science.gov (United States)

Palladium-assisted electrocatalytic dechlorination of 2-chlorobiphenyl (2-Cl BP) in aqueous solutions was conducted in a membrane-separated electrochemical reactor with granular-graphite packed electrodes. The dechlorination took place at a granular-graphite cathode while Pd was ...

Constitutive law of dense granular matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatano, Takahiro

2010-01-01

The frictional properties of dense granular matter under steady shear flow are investigated using numerical simulation. Shear flow tends to localize near the driving boundary unless the coefficient of restitution is close to zero and the driving velocity is small. The bulk friction coefficient is independent of shear rate in dense and slow flow, whereas it is an increasing function of shear rate in rapid flow. The coefficient of restitution affects the friction coefficient only in such rapid flow. Contrastingly, in dense and slow regime, the friction coefficient is independent of the coefficient of restitution and mainly determined by the elementary friction coefficient and the rotation of grains. It is found that the mismatch between the vorticity of flow and the angular frequency of grains plays a key role to the frictional properties of sheared granular matter.

Granular cell tumor in an endangered Puerto Rican Amazon parrot (Amazon vittata)

Science.gov (United States)

Quist, C.F.; Latimer, K.S.; Goldade, S.L.; Rivera, A.; Dein, F.J.

1999-01-01

A 3 cm diameter mass from the metacarpus of a Puerto Rican Amazon parrot was diagnosed as a granular cell tumour based on light microscopy. The cytoplasmic granules were periodic-acid Schiff positive and diastase resistant. Ultrastructural characteristics of the cells included convoluted nuclei and the presence of numerous cytoplasmic tertiary lysosomes. This is only the second granular cell tumour reported in a bird. We speculate that most granular cell tumours are derived from cells that are engaged in some type of cellular degradative process, creating a similar morphologic appearance, but lacking a uniform histogenesis.

Phosphorus removal from aquaculture effluents at the Northeast Fishery Center in Lamar, Pennsylvania using iron oxide sorption media

Science.gov (United States)

Sibrell, Philip; Kehler, Thomas

2016-01-01

Three different iron oxide-based sorption media samples were tested for removal of phosphorus (P) from fish hatchery effluents using fixed bed processing. Two of the media samples were derived from residuals produced by the treatment of acid mine drainage, which were then compared to granular ferric hydroxide (GFH), a commercially available sorption medium. All of the media types removed from 50 to 70% of the P from the incoming aquaculture wastewater over 70–175 days of operation without regeneration. In some of the sorption trials, the GFH media showed superior adsorption in the earlier stages of the trial, but the GFH appeared to reach saturation more quickly, so that media performance was similar – at about 60% removal of P – over a longer time period of 175 days. Media regeneration tests were also conducted for both the commercial and mine drainage media, and demonstrated longer term performance, with overall P removal of 50–55%, over 223 days of total operation, with the advantages of phosphorus recycle and media reuse.

Mechanism of coercivity enhancement by Ag addition in FePt-C granular films for heat assisted magnetic recording media

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Varaprasad, B. S. D. Ch. S.; Takahashi, Y. K., E-mail: takahashi.yukiko@nims.go.jp; Wang, J.; Hono, K. [National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), 1-2-1 Sengen, Tsukuba 305-0047 (Japan); Ina, T.; Nakamura, T.; Ueno, W.; Nitta, K.; Uruga, T. [Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI/SPring-8), 1-1-1 Kouto, Sayo, Hyogo 679-5198 (Japan)

2014-06-02

We investigated the Ag distribution in a FePtAg-C granular film that is under consideration for a heat assisted magnetic recording medium by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscope-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray absorption fine structure. Ag is rejected from the core of FePt grains during the deposition, forming Ag-enriched shell surrounding L1{sub 0}-ordered FePt grains. Since Ag has no solubility in both Fe and Pt, the rejection of Ag induces atomic diffusions thereby enhancing the kinetics of the L1{sub 0}-order in the FePt grains.

Quantifying non-ergodic dynamics of force-free granular gases.

Science.gov (United States)

Bodrova, Anna; Chechkin, Aleksei V; Cherstvy, Andrey G; Metzler, Ralf

2015-09-14

Brownian motion is ergodic in the Boltzmann-Khinchin sense that long time averages of physical observables such as the mean squared displacement provide the same information as the corresponding ensemble average, even at out-of-equilibrium conditions. This property is the fundamental prerequisite for single particle tracking and its analysis in simple liquids. We study analytically and by event-driven molecular dynamics simulations the dynamics of force-free cooling granular gases and reveal a violation of ergodicity in this Boltzmann-Khinchin sense as well as distinct ageing of the system. Such granular gases comprise materials such as dilute gases of stones, sand, various types of powders, or large molecules, and their mixtures are ubiquitous in Nature and technology, in particular in Space. We treat-depending on the physical-chemical properties of the inter-particle interaction upon their pair collisions-both a constant and a velocity-dependent (viscoelastic) restitution coefficient ε. Moreover we compare the granular gas dynamics with an effective single particle stochastic model based on an underdamped Langevin equation with time dependent diffusivity. We find that both models share the same behaviour of the ensemble mean squared displacement (MSD) and the velocity correlations in the limit of weak dissipation. Qualitatively, the reported non-ergodic behaviour is generic for granular gases with any realistic dependence of ε on the impact velocity of particles.

In situ grain fracture mechanics during uniaxial compaction of granular solids

Science.gov (United States)

Hurley, R. C.; Lind, J.; Pagan, D. C.; Akin, M. C.; Herbold, E. B.

2018-03-01

Grain fracture and crushing are known to influence the macroscopic mechanical behavior of granular materials and be influenced by factors such as grain composition, morphology, and microstructure. In this paper, we investigate grain fracture and crushing by combining synchrotron x-ray computed tomography and three-dimensional x-ray diffraction to study two granular samples undergoing uniaxial compaction. Our measurements provide details of grain kinematics, contacts, average intra-granular stresses, inter-particle forces, and intra-grain crystal and fracture plane orientations. Our analyses elucidate the complex nature of fracture and crushing, showing that: (1) the average stress states of grains prior to fracture vary widely in their relation to global and local trends; (2) fractured grains experience inter-particle forces and stored energies that are statistically higher than intact grains prior to fracture; (3) fracture plane orientations are primarily controlled by average intra-granular stress and contact fabric rather than the orientation of the crystal lattice; (4) the creation of new surfaces during fracture accounts for a very small portion of the energy dissipated during compaction; (5) mixing brittle and ductile grain materials alters the grain-scale fracture response. The results highlight an application of combined x-ray measurements for non-destructive in situ analysis of granular solids and provide details about grain fracture that have important implications for theory and modeling.

Effective elasticity coefficients of native rocks and consolidated granular matter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schulz, Beatrix M.; Schulz, Michael

2008-01-01

The elastic coefficients of binary heterogeneous materials, such as several native rock materials or consolidated granular matter will be determined in terms of a perturbation expansion. Furthermore, in order to check the validity of the obtained results, these are compared with numerical investigations using Boole's model of randomly distributed spheres. Finally, we apply the results on several classes of native rocks and consolidated granular materials

Spatial correlations in compressible granular flows

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noije, T.P.C.; Ernst, M.H.; Brito, R.

The clustering instability in freely evolving granular fluids manifests itself in the density-density correlation function and structure factor. These functions are calculated from fluctuating hydrodynamics. As time increases, the structure factor of density fluctuations develops a maximum, which

Microbiological aspects of granular methanogenic sludge

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dolfing, J.

1987-01-01

The settling characteristics of anaerobic sludge are enhanced by the formation of microbial conglomerates. Various types of conglomerates having different structures, were distinguished in the present study, viz. granules, pellets and flocs (chapter 1). Granular methanogenic sludge, often

A review of Education and Social Media using conflict and functionalist theories

Science.gov (United States)

Cian, Heidi; Amann, Holly

2017-09-01

Education and Social Media: Toward a Digital Future (2016), edited by Christine Greenhow, Julia Sonnevend, and Colin Agur, is a compilation of essays by leading contributors to the digital and social media movement in education. The chapters within this volume provide a granular look at the current landscape of how digital media is utilized across educational levels, fields of study, and geographic areas. The book is divided into three sections discussing the emerging use of social media in education, challenges in its implementation, and potential directions as tech-based education continues to evolve. In this review, we situate the ideas presented in Education and Social Media in the functionalist and conflict theories of educational perspective to further illuminate the potential of digital learning in supporting increased access to education for marginalized student populations. We discuss how these competing views are both given voice in Education and Social Media, prompting the reader to critically reflect on advantages and dangers presented by increased use of technological platforms in educational settings. Topics discussed include online universities, peer-developed curriculum, and differential use of technology based on school socioeconomic demographics. We also suggest areas that have emerged in need of further discussion since the book's publication.

Microservices: Granularity vs. Performance

OpenAIRE

Shadija, Dharmendra; Rezai, Mo; Hill, Richard

2017-01-01

Microservice Architectures (MA) have the potential to increase the agility of software development. In an era where businesses require software applications to evolve to support emerging software requirements, particularly for Internet of Things (IoT) applications, we examine the issue of microservice granularity and explore its effect upon application latency. Two approaches to microservice deployment are simulated; the first with microservices in a single container, and the second with micr...

Anomalous infrared absorption in granular superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carr, G.L.; Garland, J.C.; Tanner, D.B.

1983-01-01

Granular superconductors are shown to have a far-infrared absorption that is larger when the samples are superconducting than when they are normal. By constrast, theoretical models for these materials predict that when the samples become superconducting, the absorption should decrease

NMR experiments on a three-dimensional vibrofluidized granular medium

Science.gov (United States)

Huan, Chao; Yang, Xiaoyu; Candela, D.; Mair, R. W.; Walsworth, R. L.

2004-04-01

A three-dimensional granular system fluidized by vertical container vibrations was studied using pulsed field gradient NMR coupled with one-dimensional magnetic resonance imaging. The system consisted of mustard seeds vibrated vertically at 50 Hz, and the number of layers Nl⩽4 was sufficiently low to achieve a nearly time-independent granular fluid. Using NMR, the vertical profiles of density and granular temperature were directly measured, along with the distributions of vertical and horizontal grain velocities. The velocity distributions showed modest deviations from Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics, except for the vertical velocity distribution near the sample bottom, which was highly skewed and non-Gaussian. Data taken for three values of Nl and two dimensionless accelerations Γ=15,18 were fitted to a hydrodynamic theory, which successfully models the density and temperature profiles away from the vibrating container bottom. A temperature inversion near the free upper surface is observed, in agreement with predictions based on the hydrodynamic parameter μ which is nonzero only in inelastic systems.

Sealing of boreholes using natural, compatible materials: Granular salt

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Finley, R.E.; Zeuch, D.H.; Stormont, J.C.; Daemen, J.J.K.

1994-01-01

Granular salt can be used to construct high performance permanent seals in boreholes which penetrate rock salt formations. These seals are described as seal systems comprised of the host rock, the seal material, and the seal rock interface. The performance of these seal systems is defined by the complex interactions between these seal system components through time. The interactions are largely driven by the creep of the host formation applying boundary stress on the seal forcing host rock permeability with time. The immediate permeability of these seals is dependent on the emplaced density. Laboratory test results suggest that careful emplacement techniques could results in immediate seal system permeability on the order of 10 -16 m 2 to 10 -18 m 2 (10 -4 darcy to 10 -6 ). The visco-plastic behavior of the host rock coupled with the granular salts ability to ''heal'' or consolidate make granular salt an ideal sealing material for boreholes whose permanent sealing is required

Extension of PIV for measuring granular temperature field in dense fluidized beds.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkhuizen, W.; Bokkers, G.A.; Deen, N.G.; van Sint Annaland, M.; Kuipers, J.A.M.

2007-01-01

In this work a particle image velocimetry (PIV) technique has been extended to enable the simultaneous measurement of the instantaneous velocity and granular temperature fields. The PIV algorithm has been specifically optimized for dense granular systems and has been thoroughly tested with

Granular corneal dystrophy

OpenAIRE

Castillo Pérez, Alexeide de la C; Vilches Lescaille, Daysi; Noriega, Justo Luis; Martínez Balido, Daneel; León Balbón, Bárbaro Ramón; León Bernal, Danysleidi

2015-01-01

Las distrofias corneales constituyen un conjunto de enfermedades que presentan, en su mayoría, una baja incidencia y se caracterizan por acúmulo de material hialino o amiloide que disminuyen la transparencia corneal. La distrofia granular es una enfermedad autosómica dominante que presenta opacidades grises en el estroma superficial central de la córnea y se hacen visibles en la primera y segunda décadas de la vida, lo que provoca disminución de la visión más significativa cerca de los 40 año...

A trans-phase granular continuum relation and its use in simulation

Science.gov (United States)

Kamrin, Ken; Dunatunga, Sachith; Askari, Hesam

The ability to model a large granular system as a continuum would offer tremendous benefits in computation time compared to discrete particle methods. However, two infamous problems arise in the pursuit of this vision: (i) the constitutive relation for granular materials is still unclear and hotly debated, and (ii) a model and corresponding numerical method must wear ``many hats'' as, in general circumstances, it must be able to capture and accurately represent the material as it crosses through its collisional, dense-flowing, and solid-like states. Here we present a minimal trans-phase model, merging an elastic response beneath a fictional yield criterion, a mu(I) rheology for liquid-like flow above the static yield criterion, and a disconnection rule to model separation of the grains into a low-temperature gas. We simulate our model with a meshless method (in high strain/mixing cases) and the finite-element method. It is able to match experimental data in many geometries, including collapsing columns, impact on granular beds, draining silos, and granular drag problems.

Granular deformation mechanisms in semi-solid alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gourlay, C.M.; Dahle, A.K.; Nagira, T.; Nakatsuka, N.; Nogita, K.; Uesugi, K.; Yasuda, H.

2011-01-01

Deformation mechanisms in equiaxed, partially solid Al-15 wt.% Cu are studied in situ by coupling shear-cell experiments with synchrotron X-ray radiography. Direct evidence is presented for granular deformation mechanisms in both globular and equiaxed-dendritic samples at solid fractions shortly after crystal impingement. It is demonstrated that dilatancy, arching and jamming occur at the crystal scale, and that these can cause stick-slip flow due to periodic dilation and compaction at low displacement rate. Granular deformation is found to be similar in globular and equiaxed-dendritic samples if length is scaled by the crystal size and packing is considered to occur among crystal envelopes. Rheological differences between the morphologies are discussed in terms of the competition between crystal rearrangement and crystal deformation.

Full micromagnetics of recording on patterned media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fidler, J.; Schrefl, T.; Suess, D.; Ertl, O.; Kirschner, M.; Hrkac, G.

2006-01-01

Numerical micromagnetics of the bit writing process revealed the theoretical limits for remanence, coercive field, switching behaviour at a short time scale of less than 1 ns for patterned recording media. We discuss our recent results concerning the influence of the granular microstructure on the fast switching processes of typical CoCrPtX, FePt and CoPd thin films used for high density magnetic recording with longitudinal and perpendicular anisotropy. In detail, we will show that the degree of the exchange coupling between neighbouring grains, the grain size and its distribution and the offset between recording head and bit structure finally control the magnetization reversal properties of the individual bits

Micromechanical definition of an entropy for quasi-static deformation of granular materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rothenburg, L.; Kruyt, Nicolaas P.

2009-01-01

A micromechanical theory is formulated for quasi-static deformation of granular materials, which is based on information theory. A reasoning is presented that leads to the definition of an information entropy that is appropriate for quasi-static deformation of granular materials. This definition is

Effect of water activity and protective solutes on growth and subsequent survival to air-drying of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Champagne, Claude P; Raymond, Yves; Simon, Jean-Paul

2012-08-01

Probiotic cultures of Lactobacillus plantarum, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Bifidobacterium longum, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus acidophilus were grown in media having water activities (a (w)) adjusted between 0.99 and 0.94 with NaCl or with a mixture of glycerol and sucrose in order to find conditions of osmotic stress which would still allow for good growth. Cultures grown at a (w) = 0.96 or 0.99 were then recovered by centrifugation, added to a sucrose-phosphate medium and air-dried. In some assays, a 2-h osmotic stress was applied to the cell concentrate prior to air-drying. Assays were also carried out where betaine, glutamate and proline (BGP) supplements were added as protective compounds to the growth or drying media. For most strains, evidence of osmotic stress and benefits of BGP supplementation on growth occurred at a (w) = 0.96. Growing the cells in complex media adjusted at a (w) = 0.96 did not enhance their subsequent survival to air-drying, but applying the 2-h osmotic stress did. Addition of the BGP supplements to the growth medium or in the 2-h stress medium did not enhance survival to air-drying. Furthermore, addition of BGP to a sucrose-phosphate drying medium reduced survival of the cultures to air-drying. This study provides preliminary data for producers of probiotics who wish to use air-drying in replacement of freeze-drying for the stabilization of cultures.

Experimental Study of Paddy Grain Drying in Continuous Recirculation System Pneumatic Conveyor

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Prasetyo Totok

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Nowadays, paddy drying using conventional method is irrelevant to used. The increasing need of grain each year is one of the main factor that pushes scientist to invent new methods of drying paddy grain. The old method is unusefull since it takes up space, needed the sun as the drying media which causes a long drying time. One of the alternative of drying paddy grain is by using mechanic dryer. By using this dryer type, the process of drying takes faster comparing to the old method and the distribution of grain is supplied continuously. The dryer which uses pneumatic conveyor can be one of the solution due to its less energy consumption, a better drying result, and high drying capacity. The variable used to identify drying performance is temperature and loading weight. From the experiment, it is resulted that the best temperature for drying paddy grain is 60°C with the weight loading of 150 gram.

Fragility and hysteretic creep in frictional granular jamming.

Science.gov (United States)

Bandi, M M; Rivera, M K; Krzakala, F; Ecke, R E

2013-04-01

The granular jamming transition is experimentally investigated in a two-dimensional system of frictional, bidispersed disks subject to quasistatic, uniaxial compression without vibrational disturbances (zero granular temperature). Three primary results are presented in this experimental study. First, using disks with different static friction coefficients (μ), we experimentally verify numerical results that predict jamming onset at progressively lower packing fractions with increasing friction. Second, we show that the first compression cycle measurably differs from subsequent cycles. The first cycle is fragile-a metastable configuration with simultaneous jammed and unjammed clusters-over a small packing fraction interval (φ(1)disk displacements over the same packing fraction interval. This fragile behavior is explained through a percolation mechanism of stressed contacts where cluster growth exhibits spatial correlation with disk displacements and contributes to recent results emphasizing fragility in frictional jamming. Control experiments show that the fragile state results from the experimental incompatibility between the requirements for zero friction and zero granular temperature. Measurements with several disk materials of varying elastic moduli E and friction coefficients μ show that friction directly controls the start of the fragile state but indirectly controls the exponential pressure rise. Finally, under repetitive loading (compression) and unloading (decompression), we find the system exhibits pressure hysteresis, and the critical packing fraction φ(c) increases slowly with repetition number. This friction-induced hysteretic creep is interpreted as the granular pack's evolution from a metastable to an eventual structurally stable configuration. It is shown to depend on the quasistatic step size Δφ, which provides the only perturbative mechanism in the experimental protocol, and the friction coefficient μ, which acts to stabilize the pack.

Numerical insight into the micromechanics of jet erosion of a cohesive granular material

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Cuéllar Pablo

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Here we investigate the physical mechanisms behind the surface erosion of a cohesive granular soil induced by an impinging jet by means of numerical simulations coupling fluid and grains at the microscale. The 2D numerical model combines the Discrete Element and Lattice Boltzmann methods (DEM-LBM and accounts for the granular cohesion with a contact model featuring a paraboloidal yield surface. Here we review first the hydrodynamical conditions imposed by the fluid jet on a solid granular packing, turning then the attention to the impact of cohesion on the erosion kinetics. Finally, the use of an additional subcritical debonding damage model based on the work of Silvani and co-workers provides a novel insight into the internal solicitation of the cohesive granular sample by the impinging jet.

Numerical insight into the micromechanics of jet erosion of a cohesive granular material

Science.gov (United States)

Cuéllar, Pablo; Benseghier, Zeyd; Luu, Li-Hua; Bonelli, Stéphane; Delenne, Jean-Yves; Radjaï, Farhang; Philippe, Pierre

2017-06-01

Here we investigate the physical mechanisms behind the surface erosion of a cohesive granular soil induced by an impinging jet by means of numerical simulations coupling fluid and grains at the microscale. The 2D numerical model combines the Discrete Element and Lattice Boltzmann methods (DEM-LBM) and accounts for the granular cohesion with a contact model featuring a paraboloidal yield surface. Here we review first the hydrodynamical conditions imposed by the fluid jet on a solid granular packing, turning then the attention to the impact of cohesion on the erosion kinetics. Finally, the use of an additional subcritical debonding damage model based on the work of Silvani and co-workers provides a novel insight into the internal solicitation of the cohesive granular sample by the impinging jet.

Jamming and chaotic dynamics in different granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Maghsoodi, Homayoon; Luijten, Erik

Although common in nature and industry, the jamming transition has long eluded a concrete, mechanistic explanation. Recently, Banigan et al. (Nat. Phys. 9, 288-292, 2013) proposed a method for characterizing this transition in a granular system in terms of the system's chaotic properties, as quantified by the largest Lyapunov exponent. They demonstrated that in a two-dimensional shear cell the jamming transition coincides with the bulk density at which the system's largest Lyapunov exponent changes sign, indicating a transition between chaotic and non-chaotic regimes. To examine the applicability of this observation to realistic granular systems, we study a model that includes frictional forces within an expanded phase space. Furthermore, we test the generality of the relation between chaos and jamming by investigating the relationship between jamming and the chaotic properties of several other granular systems, notably sheared systems (Howell, D., Behringer R. P., Veje C., Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 5241-5244, 1999) and systems with a free boundary. Finally, we quantify correlations between the largest Lyapunov vector and collective rearrangements of the system to demonstrate the predictive capabilities enabled by adopting this perspective of jamming.

Some exact velocity profiles for granular flow in converging hoppers

Science.gov (United States)

Cox, Grant M.; Hill, James M.

2005-01-01

Gravity flow of granular materials through hoppers occurs in many industrial processes. For an ideal cohesionless granular material, which satisfies the Coulomb-Mohr yield condition, the number of known analytical solutions is limited. However, for the special case of the angle of internal friction δ equal to ninety degrees, there exist exact parametric solutions for the governing coupled ordinary differential equations for both two-dimensional wedges and three-dimensional cones, both of which involve two arbitrary constants of integration. These solutions are the only known analytical solutions of this generality. Here, we utilize the double-shearing theory of granular materials to determine the velocity field corresponding to these exact parametric solutions for the two problems of gravity flow through converging wedge and conical hoppers. An independent numerical solution for other angles of internal friction is shown to coincide with the analytical solution.

Kovacs-Like Memory Effect in Driven Granular Gases

Science.gov (United States)

Prados, A.; Trizac, E.

2014-05-01

While memory effects have been reported for dense enough disordered systems such as glasses, we show here by a combination of analytical and simulation techniques that they are also intrinsic to the dynamics of dilute granular gases. By means of a certain driving protocol, we prepare the gas in a state where the granular temperature T coincides with its long time limit. However, T does not subsequently remain constant but exhibits a nonmonotonic evolution before reaching its nonequilibrium steady value. The corresponding so-called Kovacs hump displays a normal behavior for weak dissipation (as observed in molecular systems) but is reversed under strong dissipation, where it, thus, becomes anomalous.

A new method for measurement of granular velocities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nyborg Andersen, B.

1984-01-01

A new, supplementary method to measure granular velocities is presented. The method utilizes the Doppler shift caused by the line of sight component of the solar rotation to cause a wavelength shift through spectral lines as function of heliocentric angle. By measuring the center-to-limb variation of the granular intensity fluctations at different wavelength positions in the lines, the velocities are found. To do this, assumptions regarding the geometrical structure of the velocity and intensity fields have to be made. Preliminary application of the method results in a steep velocity gradient suggesting zero velocity at a hight of 200 km above tau 500 = 1. Possible causes are discussed

Multi-scale mechanics of granular solids from grain-resolved X-ray measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Hurley, R. C.; Hall, S. A.; Wright, J. P.

2017-11-01

This work discusses an experimental technique for studying the mechanics of three-dimensional (3D) granular solids. The approach combines 3D X-ray diffraction and X-ray computed tomography to measure grain-resolved strains, kinematics and contact fabric in the bulk of a granular solid, from which continuum strains, grain stresses, interparticle forces and coarse-grained elasto-plastic moduli can be determined. We demonstrate the experimental approach and analysis of selected results on a sample of 1099 stiff, frictional grains undergoing multiple uniaxial compression cycles. We investigate the inter-particle force network, elasto-plastic moduli and associated length scales, reversibility of mechanical responses during cyclic loading, the statistics of microscopic responses and microstructure-property relationships. This work serves to highlight both the fundamental insight into granular mechanics that is furnished by combined X-ray measurements and describes future directions in the field of granular materials that can be pursued with such approaches.

Removal of oxytetracycline and determining its biosorption properties on aerobic granular sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Mihciokur, Hamdi; Oguz, Merve

2016-09-01

This study investigates biosorption of Oxytetracycline, a broad-spectrum antibiotic, using aerobic granular sludge as an adsorbent in aqueous solutions. A sequencing batch reactor fed by a synthetic wastewater was operated to create aerobic granular sludge. Primarily, the pore structure and surface area of granular sludge, the chemical structure and the molecular sizes of the pharmaceutical, operating conditions, such as pH, stirring rate, initial concentration of Oxytetracycline, during adsorption process was verified. Subsequently, thermodynamic and kinetic aspects of the adsorption were examined and adsorption isotherm studies were carried out. It was shown that the aerobic granular sludge was a good alternative for biosorption of this pharmaceutical. The pharmaceutical was adsorbed better at pH values of 6-8. The adsorption efficiency increased with rising ionic strength. Also, it was seen that the adsorption process was an exothermic process in terms of thermodynamics. The adsorption can be well explained by Langmuir isotherm model. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Simultaneous Cr(VI) bio-reduction and methane production by anaerobic granular sludge.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Qian; Sun, Jiaji; Sun, Dezhi; Tian, Lan; Ji, Yanan; Qiu, Bin

2018-08-01

Wastewater containing toxic hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) were treated with well-organized anaerobic granular sludge in this study. Results showed that the anaerobic granular sludge rapidly removed Cr(VI), and 2000 µg·L -1 Cr(VI) was completely eliminated within 6 min, which was much faster than the reported duration of removal by reported artificial materials. Sucrose added as a carbon source acted as an initial electron donor to reduce Cr(VI) to Cr(III). This process was considered as the main mechanism of Cr(VI) removal. Methane production by anaerobic granular sludge was improved by the addition of Cr(VI) at a concentration lower than 500 µg·L -1 . Anaerobic granular sludge had a well-organized structure, which presented good resistance against toxic Cr(VI). Trichoccus accelerated the degradation of organic substances to generate acetates with a low Cr(VI) concentration, thereby enhancing methane production by acetotrophic methanogens. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Tunable evolutions of shock absorption and energy partitioning in magnetic granular chains

Science.gov (United States)

Leng, Dingxin; Liu, Guijie; Sun, Lingyu

2018-01-01

In this paper, we investigate the tunable characteristics of shock waves propagating in one-dimensional magnetic granular chains at various chain lengths and magnetic flux densities. According to the Hertz contact theory and Maxwell principle, a discrete element model with coupling elastic and field-induced interaction potentials of adjacent magnetic grains is proposed. We also present hard-sphere approximation analysis to describe the energy partitioning features of magnetic granular chains. The results demonstrate that, for a fixed magnetic field strength, when the chain length is greater than two times of the wave width of the solitary wave, the chain length has little effect on the output energy of the system; for a fixed chain length, the shock absorption and energy partitioning features of magnetic granular chains are remarkably influenced by varying magnetic flux densities. This study implies that the magnetic granular chain is potential to construct adaptive shock absorption components for impulse mitigation.

Iodine Gas Trapping using Granular Porous Bismuth

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yang, Jae Hwan; Shin, Jin Myeong; Park, Jang Jin; Park, Geun Il [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Yim, Mansung [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2014-05-15

{sup 129}I is a radionuclide with a very long half-life of 1.57 Χ 10{sup 7} years and has negative health effects to the human body. Therefore, the emission of {sup 129}I into the air is closely regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many methods for trapping gaseous {sup 129}I have been developed thus far, including wet scrubbing and adsorption using silver loaded zeolites. Although wet scrubbing can effectively remove iodine, it suffers from corrosion of the vessel due to high concentration of the scrubbing solution. Silver loaded zeolites also show effectiveness in capturing {sup 129}I gas, yet weak thermal stability of physisorbed iodine remains a challenge. We studied a novel and facile method to trap iodine gas using bismuth. Granular bismuth having many pores was synthesized using bismuth nitrate and polyvinyl alcohol as a bismuth precursor and pore forming agent, respectively. Reaction of iodine and our samples resulted in an iodine capturing capacity of more than 2 times that of the commercial grade silver exchanged zeolite (AgX). Granular porous bismuths synthesized using bismuth nitrate and PVA show a promising performance in capturing iodine gas. The use of bismuth in trapping {sup 129}I gas can reduce the process cost as bismuth is cheap. Further study is going on to improve the mechanical property of granular porous bismuths for their easy handling.

Iodine Gas Trapping using Granular Porous Bismuth

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yang, Jae Hwan; Shin, Jin Myeong; Park, Jang Jin; Park, Geun Il; Yim, Mansung

2014-01-01

129 I is a radionuclide with a very long half-life of 1.57 Χ 10 7 years and has negative health effects to the human body. Therefore, the emission of 129 I into the air is closely regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Many methods for trapping gaseous 129 I have been developed thus far, including wet scrubbing and adsorption using silver loaded zeolites. Although wet scrubbing can effectively remove iodine, it suffers from corrosion of the vessel due to high concentration of the scrubbing solution. Silver loaded zeolites also show effectiveness in capturing 129 I gas, yet weak thermal stability of physisorbed iodine remains a challenge. We studied a novel and facile method to trap iodine gas using bismuth. Granular bismuth having many pores was synthesized using bismuth nitrate and polyvinyl alcohol as a bismuth precursor and pore forming agent, respectively. Reaction of iodine and our samples resulted in an iodine capturing capacity of more than 2 times that of the commercial grade silver exchanged zeolite (AgX). Granular porous bismuths synthesized using bismuth nitrate and PVA show a promising performance in capturing iodine gas. The use of bismuth in trapping 129 I gas can reduce the process cost as bismuth is cheap. Further study is going on to improve the mechanical property of granular porous bismuths for their easy handling

Kesintasan Undur-Undur pada Media Aklimatisasi

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mayang Arundina

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui kesintasan undur-undur pada media aklimatisasi. Penelitian dilakukan di rumah teduh Jalan Tumpang I/82 Semarang dan Laboratorium Jurusan Biologi FMIPA UNNES. Variabel utamanya kesintasan undur-undur, berat dan panjang undur-undur, sedangkan variabel pendukungnya jenis media aklimatisasi, meliputi tanah kering, abu dan serbuk batu bata. Tahap awal, disiapkan media hidup undur-undur, media kemudian dimasukkan kedalam kotak aklimatisasi, diberi cangkup dan dibiarkan selama 10 hari. Undur-undur ditimbang dan diukur panjang tubuhnya kemudian dimasukkan kedalam kotak aklimatisasi, masing-masing kotak diisi15 undur-undur. Kesintasan hidup undur-undur pada masing-masing media diamati selama 45 hari, data diambil seminggu sekali. Undur-undur diberi makan 2 - 3 ekor semut sehari 3 kali. Setelah 45 hari undur-undur ditimbang dan diukur panjang tubuhnya kembali. Data kesintasan hidup undur-undur dianalisis menggunakan Anava Dua jalur. Berat dan panjang undur-undur dianalisis menggunakan t-test. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan undur-undur dapat sintas pada media aklimatisasi, yaitu tanah kering dan abu. Undur-undur mengalami pertambahan berat dan panjang sesudah penelitian. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian dapat disimpulkan bahwa undur-undurdapat sintas pada media aklimatisasi yaitu tanah kering dan abu. Ukuran berat dan panjang undur-undur mengalami pertambahan sesudah penelitian. This research was aimed to know the survival of gratus at the acclimatization media. The research was held in the shady house at Jalan Tumpang I/82 Semarang and in the Laboratory of Biology Departement of FMIPA UNNES. The main variables were the survival of gratus, the weight and length of gratus, whereas the supporting variable was the acclimatization media, that is the dry sandy soil, the dust and the powder of bricks. Initially, the acclimatization media was prepared for the gratus, then the media was distributed into the boxes of

Contact force structure and force chains in 3D sheared granular systems

Science.gov (United States)

Mair, Karen; Jettestuen, Espen; Abe, Steffen

2010-05-01

Faults often exhibit accumulations of granular debris, ground up to create a layer of rock flour or fault gouge separating the rigid fault walls. Numerical simulations and laboratory experiments of sheared granular materials, suggest that applied loads are preferentially transmitted across such systems by transient force networks that carry enhanced forces. The characterisation of such features is important since their nature and persistence almost certainly influence the macroscopic mechanical stability of these systems and potentially that of natural faults. 3D numerical simulations of granular shear are a valuable investigation tool since they allow us to track individual particle motions, contact forces and their evolution during applied shear, that are difficult to view directly in laboratory experiments or natural fault zones. In characterising contact force distributions, it is important to use global structure measures that allow meaningful comparisons of granular systems having e.g. different grain size distributions, as may be expected at different stages of a fault's evolution. We therefore use a series of simple measures to characterise the structure, such as distributions and correlations of contact forces that can be mapped onto a force network percolation problem as recently proposed by Ostojic and coworkers for 2D granular systems. This allows the use of measures from percolation theory to both define and characterise the force networks. We demonstrate the application of this method to 3D simulations of a sheared granular material. Importantly, we then compare our measure of the contact force structure with macroscopic frictional behaviour measured at the boundaries of our model to determine the influence of the force networks on macroscopic mechanical stability.

Nitrate adsorption from aqueous solution using granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hu, Qili [School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083 (China); Key Laboratory of Groundwater Cycle and Environment Evolution,China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100083 (China); Chen, Nan, E-mail: chennan@cugb.edu.cn [School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083 (China); Key Laboratory of Groundwater Cycle and Environment Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100083 (China); Feng, Chuanping [School of Water Resources and Environment, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083 (China); Key Laboratory of Groundwater Cycle and Environment Evolution, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100083 (China); Hu, WeiWu [The Journal Center, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing, 100083 (China)

2015-08-30

Highlights: • Granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex had high performance for nitrate adsorption. • Granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex had shorter equilibrium time (1.5 h). • Nitrate adsorption was ascribed to ion exchange and electrostatic attraction. • Granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex could be regenerated using NaCl solution. - Abstract: In the present study, In order to efficiently remove nitrate, granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex with high chemical stability and good environmental adaptation was synthesized through precipitation method and characterized using SEM, XRD, BET and FTIR. The nitrate adsorption performance was evaluated by batch experiments. The results indicated that granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex was an amorphous and mesoporous material. The BET specific surface area and average pore size were 8.98 m{sup 2} g{sup −1} and 56.94 Å, respectively. The point of zero charge was obtained at pH 5. The maximum adsorption capacity reached 8.35 mg NO{sub 3}{sup −}-N g{sup −1} based on Langmuir–Freundlich model. Moreover, no significant change in the nitrate removal efficiency was observed in the pH range of 3.0–10.0. The adverse influence of sulphate on nitrate removal was the most significant, followed by bicarbonate and fluoride, whereas chloride had slightly adverse effect. Adsorption process followed the pseudo-second-order kinetic model, and the experimental equilibrium data were fitted well with the Langmuir–Freundlich and D–R isotherm models. Thermodynamic parameters revealed that nitrate adsorption was a spontaneous and exothermic process. Granular chitosan-Fe{sup 3+} complex could be effectively regenerated by NaCl solution.

Lift on side by side intruders of various geometries within a granular flow

Science.gov (United States)

Acevedo-Escalante, M. F.; Caballero-Robledo, G. A.

2017-06-01

Obstacles within fluids have been widely used in engineering and in physics to study hydrodynamic interactions. In granular matter, objects within a granular flow have helped to understand fundamental features of drag and lift forces. In our group, we have studied numerically the flow mediated interaction between two static disks within a vertical granular flow in a two-dimensional container where the flow velocity and the distance between obstacles were varied. Attractive and repulsive forces were found depending on flow velocity and separation between intruders. The simulations evidenced a relationship between the average flow velocity in a specific section ahead of the obstacles and the attractive-repulsive lift. On the other hand, it was showed that the lift force on an object dragged within a granular medium depends on the shape of the intruder. Here we present experimental results of the interaction between two side-by-side intruders of different shapes within a vertical granular flow. We built a quasi-two-dimensional container in which we placed the intruders and using load cells we measured lift and drag forces during the discharge process for different flow velocities.

Memory effect in uniformly heated granular gases

Science.gov (United States)

Trizac, E.; Prados, A.

2014-07-01

We evidence a Kovacs-like memory effect in a uniformly driven granular gas. A system of inelastic hard particles, in the low density limit, can reach a nonequilibrium steady state when properly forced. By following a certain protocol for the drive time dependence, we prepare the gas in a state where the granular temperature coincides with its long time value. The temperature subsequently does not remain constant but exhibits a nonmonotonic evolution with either a maximum or a minimum, depending on the dissipation and on the protocol. We present a theoretical analysis of this memory effect at Boltzmann-Fokker-Planck equation level and show that when dissipation exceeds a threshold, the response can be called anomalous. We find excellent agreement between the analytical predictions and direct Monte Carlo simulations.

Evaluating Energy Flux in Vibrofluidized Granular Bed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. A. Sheikh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Granular flows require sustained input of energy for fluidization. A level of fluidization depends on the amount of heat flux provided to the flow. In general, the dissipation of the grains upon interaction balances the heat inputs and the resultant flow patterns can be described using hydrodynamic models. However, with the increase in packing fraction, the heat fluxes prediction of the cell increases. Here, a comparison is made for the proposed theoretical models against the MD simulations data. It is observed that the variation of packing fraction in the granular cell influences the heat flux at the base. For the elastic grain-base interaction, the predictions vary appreciably compared to MD simulations, suggesting the need to accurately model the velocity distribution of grains for averaging.

ENGINEERING BULLETIN: GRANULAR ACTIVATED CARBON TREATMENT

Science.gov (United States)

Granular activated carbon (GAC) treatment is a physicochemical process that removes a wide variety of contaminants by adsorbing them from liquid and gas streams [1, p. 6-3]. This treatment is most commonly used to separate organic contaminants from water or air; however, it can b...

Velocity distributions in dilute granular systems

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Zon, J.S.; Mac Kintosh, F.C.

2005-01-01

We investigate the idea that velocity distributions in granular gases are determined mainly by η, the coefficient of restitution and q, which measures the relative importance of heating (or energy input) to collisions. To this end, we study by numerical simulation the properties of inelastic gases

Granular cell tumor of the esophagus. Report of three cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohle, S D; McKechnie, J C; Truong, L; Jurco, S

1981-06-01

Granular cell tumors, (formerly called myoblastomas) involving the esophagus were encountered in three patients. In all three the tumors were asymptomatic and in two they were multiple. The first published endoscopic photographs of such a tumor are presented. The successful total removal of this neoplasm using the endoscope is described. The pathologic, radiologic and therapeutic aspects of previously reported cases of granular cell tumor of the esophagus are reviewed and compared with the three reported herein.

Experimental study of energy exchanges between two coupled granular gases

OpenAIRE

Chastaing , J.-Y; Géminard , J.-C; Naert , A

2016-01-01

International audience; We report on the energy exchanges between two granular gases of different densities coupled electrome-chanically by immersed blades attached to dc motors. Zeroing the energy flux between the two subsystems, we demonstrate that an immersed blade is a convenient way to assess the properties of the granular gases, provided that the dissipation in the motor is properly taken into account. In addition, when the two gases have different densities, the fluctuations of the ene...

Experimental investigation of granular dynamics close to the jamming transition

Science.gov (United States)

Caballero, G.; Kolb, E.; Lindner, A.; Lanuza, J.; Clément, E.

2005-06-01

We present different experiments on dense granular assemblies with the aim of clarifying the notion of 'jamming transition' for these assemblies of non-Brownian particles. The experimental set-ups differ in the way in which external perturbations are applied in order to unjam the systems. The first experiment monitors the response to a locally applied deformation of a model packing at rest. The two other experiments study local and collective dynamics in a granular assembly weakly excited by vibration.

Dynamic aerofracture or hydrofracture of dense granular packing: pressure and viscosity control of the fracture patterns

Science.gov (United States)

Niebling, Michael J.; Toussaint, Renaud; Flekkøy, Eirik G.; Jørgen Måløy, Knut

2013-04-01

øy and K.J. Måløy, Dynamic aerofracture of dense granular packings, Phys. Rev. E 86, 061315 (2012). [4] Niebling, M., R. Toussaint, E.G. Flekkøy and K.J. Måløy, Estudios numéricos de Aerofractures en medios poros / Numerical Studies of Aerofractures in Porous Media, Revista Cubana de Fisica, 29, 1E, 1E66, 2012.

Fine-granularity inference and estimations to network traffic for SDN.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dingde Jiang

Full Text Available An end-to-end network traffic matrix is significantly helpful for network management and for Software Defined Networks (SDN. However, the end-to-end network traffic matrix's inferences and estimations are a challenging problem. Moreover, attaining the traffic matrix in high-speed networks for SDN is a prohibitive challenge. This paper investigates how to estimate and recover the end-to-end network traffic matrix in fine time granularity from the sampled traffic traces, which is a hard inverse problem. Different from previous methods, the fractal interpolation is used to reconstruct the finer-granularity network traffic. Then, the cubic spline interpolation method is used to obtain the smooth reconstruction values. To attain an accurate the end-to-end network traffic in fine time granularity, we perform a weighted-geometric-average process for two interpolation results that are obtained. The simulation results show that our approaches are feasible and effective.

Fine-granularity inference and estimations to network traffic for SDN.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Dingde; Huo, Liuwei; Li, Ya

2018-01-01

An end-to-end network traffic matrix is significantly helpful for network management and for Software Defined Networks (SDN). However, the end-to-end network traffic matrix's inferences and estimations are a challenging problem. Moreover, attaining the traffic matrix in high-speed networks for SDN is a prohibitive challenge. This paper investigates how to estimate and recover the end-to-end network traffic matrix in fine time granularity from the sampled traffic traces, which is a hard inverse problem. Different from previous methods, the fractal interpolation is used to reconstruct the finer-granularity network traffic. Then, the cubic spline interpolation method is used to obtain the smooth reconstruction values. To attain an accurate the end-to-end network traffic in fine time granularity, we perform a weighted-geometric-average process for two interpolation results that are obtained. The simulation results show that our approaches are feasible and effective.

Structural evolution of a granular medium during simultaneous penetration

Science.gov (United States)

González-Gutiérrez, Jorge; Carreón, Yojana J. P.; Moctezuma, R. E.

2018-01-01

Typically, fluidized beds are granular systems composed of solid particles through which a fluid flows. They are relevant to a wide variety of disciplines such as physics, chemistry, engineering, among others. Generally, the fluidized beds are characterized by different flow regimes such as particulate, bubbling, slugging, turbulent, fast fluidization, and pneumatic conveying. Here, we report the experimental study of the structural evolution of a granular system due to simultaneous penetration of intruders in the presence of an upward airflow. We found that the granular medium evolves from the static state to the turbulent regime showing the coexistence of three regions in different flow regimes. Interestingly, the cooperative dynamic of intruders correlate with the formation of such regions. As a non-invasive method, we use lacunarity and fractal dimension to quantitatively describe the patterns arising within the system during the different stages of the penetration process. Finally, we found that our results would allow us to relate the evolution of the visual patterns appearing in the process with different physical properties of the system.

Analysis of Cylindrical Granular Material Silos under Seismic Excitation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christoph Butenweg

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Silos generally work as storage structures between supply and demand for various goods, and their structural safety has long been of interest to the civil engineering profession. This is especially true for dynamically loaded silos, e.g., in case of seismic excitation. Particularly thin-walled cylindrical silos are highly vulnerable to seismic induced pressures, which can cause critical buckling phenomena of the silo shell. The analysis of silos can be carried out in two different ways. In the first, the seismic loading is modeled through statically equivalent loads acting on the shell. Alternatively, a time history analysis might be carried out, in which nonlinear phenomena due to the filling as well as the interaction between the shell and the granular material are taken into account. The paper presents a comparison of these approaches. The model used for the nonlinear time history analysis considers the granular material by means of the intergranular strain approach for hypoplasticity theory. The interaction effects between the granular material and the shell is represented by contact elements. Additionally, soil–structure interaction effects are taken into account.

Dynamical Heterogeneity in Granular Fluids and Structural Glasses

Science.gov (United States)

Avila, Karina E.

Our current understanding of the dynamics of supercooled liquids and other similar slowly evolving (glassy) systems is rather limited. One aspect that is particularly poorly understood is the origin and behavior of the strong non trivial fluctuations that appear in the relaxation process toward equilibrium. Glassy systems and granular systems both present regions of particles moving cooperatively and at different rates from other regions. This phenomenon is known as spatially heterogeneous dynamics. A detailed explanation of this phenomenon may lead to a better understanding of the slow relaxation process, and perhaps it could even help to explain the presence of the glass transition. This dissertation concentrates on studying dynamical heterogeneity by analyzing simulation data for models of granular materials and structural glasses. For dissipative granular fluids, the growing behavior of dynamical heterogeneities is studied for different densities and different degrees of inelasticity in the particle collisions. The correlated regions are found to grow rapidly as the system approaches dynamical arrest. Their geometry is conserved even when probing at different cutoff length in the correlation function or when the energy dissipation in the system is increased. For structural glasses, I test a theoretical framework that models dynamical heterogeneity as originated in the presence of Goldstone modes, which emerge from a broken continuous time reparametrization symmetry. This analysis is based on quantifying the size and the spatial correlations of fluctuations in the time variable and of other kinds of fluctuations. The results obtained here agree with the predictions of the hypothesis. In particular, the fluctuations associated to the time reparametrization invariance become stronger for low temperatures, long timescales, and large coarse graining lengths. Overall, this research points to dynamical heterogeneity to be described for granular systems similarly than

Whole-genome sequencing of a malignant granular cell tumor with metabolic response to pazopanib

Science.gov (United States)

Wei, Lei; Liu, Song; Conroy, Jeffrey; Wang, Jianmin; Papanicolau-Sengos, Antonios; Glenn, Sean T.; Murakami, Mitsuko; Liu, Lu; Hu, Qiang; Conroy, Jacob; Miles, Kiersten Marie; Nowak, David E.; Liu, Biao; Qin, Maochun; Bshara, Wiam; Omilian, Angela R.; Head, Karen; Bianchi, Michael; Burgher, Blake; Darlak, Christopher; Kane, John; Merzianu, Mihai; Cheney, Richard; Fabiano, Andrew; Salerno, Kilian; Talati, Chetasi; Khushalani, Nikhil I.; Trump, Donald L.; Johnson, Candace S.; Morrison, Carl D.

2015-01-01

Granular cell tumors are an uncommon soft tissue neoplasm. Malignant granular cell tumors comprise T transitions, particularly when immediately preceded by a 5′ G. A loss-of-function mutation was detected in a newly recognized tumor suppressor candidate, BRD7. No mutations were found in known targets of pazopanib. However, we identified a receptor tyrosine kinase pathway mutation in GFRA2 that warrants further evaluation. To the best of our knowledge, this is only the second reported case of a malignant granular cell tumor exhibiting a response to pazopanib, and the first whole-genome sequencing of this uncommon tumor type. The findings provide insight into the genetic basis of malignant granular cell tumors and identify potential targets for further investigation. PMID:27148567

The critical current of granular superconductor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ignat'ev, V.K.

1998-01-01

A mechanism of hyper vortex pinning in granular superconductors is proposed to describe the field dependence of the critical current density and pinning potential. The results are in a good agreement with the experiment. The model represents the peak effect and the percolation mechanism of conductivity in ceramic superconductors

Tumor de células granulares bifocal em mucosa jugal

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Yuri Nicolau Ferreira

Full Text Available O tumor de células granulares é uma lesão incomum que apresenta predileção pela cavidade oral, por apresentar baixa taxa de recidiva, o tratamento de escolha é a excisão cirúrgica simples. O objetivo caracterizar um caso de tumor de células granulares bifocal em mucosa jugal e explanar características clínicas e histopatológicas acerca da lesão. Relata-se o caso de uma paciente de 60 anos apresentando dois pequenos nódulos de superfície lisa em mucosa jugal, consistência fibroelástica e coloração levemente amarelada. Foi realizada a excisão cirúrgica das duas lesões a partir de uma biópsia excisional, onde microscopicamente foi observada uma neoplasia de células granulares arranjadas em ilhas, chegando ao diagnóstico de Tumor de células granulares. O diagnóstico final da lesão foi obtido a partir do exame histopatológico, visto que, a aparência clínica da lesão é inespecífica, sendo de extrema importância a realização da biópsia excisional. A paciente continua em acompanhamento há 6 meses e não demonstra recidiva da lesão.

Universal scaling of permeability through the granular-to-continuum transition

Science.gov (United States)

Wadsworth, F. B.; Scheu, B.; Heap, M. J.; Kendrick, J. E.; Vasseur, J.; Lavallée, Y.; Dingwell, D. B.

2015-12-01

Magmas fragment forming a transiently granular material, which can weld back to a fluid-continuum. This process results in dramatic changes in the gas-volume fraction of the material, which impacts the gas permeability. We collate published data for the gas-volume fraction and permeability of volcanic and synthetic materials which have undergone this process to different amounts and note that in all cases there exists a discontinuity in the relationship between these two properties. By discriminating data for which good microstructural information are provided, we use simple scaling arguments to collapse the data in both the still-granular, high gas-volume fraction regime and the fluid-continuum low gas-volume fraction regime such that a universal description can be achieved. We use this to argue for the microstructural meaning of the well-described discontinuity between gas-permeability and gas-volume fraction and to infer the controls on the position of this transition between dominantly granular and dominantly fluid-continuum material descriptions. As a specific application, we consider the transiently granular magma transported through and deposited in fractures in more-coherent magmas, thought to be a primary degassing pathway in high viscosity systems. We propose that our scaling coupled with constitutive laws for densification can provide insights into the longevity of such degassing channels, informing sub-surface pressure modelling at such volcanoes.

Characterization of granular collapse onto hard substrates by acoustic emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Farin, Maxime; Mangeney, Anne; Toussaint, Renaud; De Rosny, Julien

2013-04-01

Brittle deformation in granular porous media can generate gravitational instabilities such as debris flows and rock avalanches. These phenomena constitute a major natural hazard for the population in mountainous, volcanic and coastal areas but their direct observation on the field is very dangerous. Recent studies showed that gravitational instabilities can be detected and characterized (volume, duration,...) thanks to the seismic signal they generate. In an avalanche, individual block bouncing and rolling on the ground are expected to generated signals of higher frequencies than the main flow spreading. The identification of the time/frequency signature of individual blocks in the recorded signal remains however difficult. Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the acoustic signature of diverse simple sources corresponding to grains falling over thin plates of plexiglas and rock blocks. The elastic energy emitted by a single bouncing steel bead into the support was first quantitatively estimated and compared to the potential energy of fall and to the potential energy change during the shock. Next, we consider the collapse of granular columns made of steel spherical beads onto hard substrates. Initially, these columns were held by a magnetic field allowing to suppress suddenly the cohesion between the beads, and thus to minimize friction effects that would arise from side walls. We varied systematically the column volume, the column aspect ratio (height over length) and the grain size. This is shown to affect the signal envelope and frequency content. In the experiments, two types of acoustic sensors were used to record the signals in a wide frequency range: accelerometers (1 Hz to 56 kHz) and piezoelectric sensors (100 kHz to 1 MHz). The experiments were also monitored optically using fast cameras. We developed a technique to use quantitatively both types of sensors to evaluate the elastic energy emitted by the sources. Eventually, we looked at what

Resistance capability of microaerobic granular sludge for ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

enoh

2012-02-08

Feb 8, 2012 ... The resistance capability to pH shock of microaerobic granular sludge for pentachlorophenol (PCP) ... process with chlorine gas in pulp and paper, leather and spinning ... nitrifying bacteria in the aerobic zone, and then trans-.

Removal of organochlorine pesticides from water using virgin and regenerated granular activated carbon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIRJANA B. NINKOVIĆ

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Public water systems use granular activated carbon in order to eliminate pesticides. After saturation, the used activated carbon is regenerated and reused in order to reduce the costs of water production and minimize waste. In this study, the adsorption of 10 different chlorinated pesticides from water using columns packed with commercial virgin and regenerated granular activated carbon was simulated in order to compare their adsorption capacities for different chlorinated pesticides. The breakthrough curves showed that chlorinated pesticides from the group of hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH were poorly adsorbed, followed by cyclodiens as averagely adsorbed and the derivatives of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons (DDT as strongly adsorbed. However, the adsorption capacity of regenerated granular activated carbon was considerably lower for tested pesticides compared to the virgin granular carbon. In addition, rinsing of the pesticides after the saturation point is a far more efficient process on regenerated carbon.

Experimental and numerical study of granular flow characteristics of absorber sphere pneumatic conveying process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang He; Li Tianjin; Qi Weiwei; Huang Zhiyong; Bo Hanliang

2014-01-01

Absorber sphere pneumatic conveying system is the main part of absorber sphere shutdown system and closely related to granular flow. Granular flow characteristics, such as mass flow rate, angle of repose, contact forces, etc., are crucial important for the optimization of absorber sphere pneumatic conveying process. Mass flow rate of granular flow through the sphere discharge valve and the bend tube are significant for the time of ball dropping and the time of conveying back rate, respectively. Experiments and DEM simulations have been conducted to investigate the granular flow characteristics. Experimental results showed that the relation between average mass flow rate through the sphere discharge valve and the valve stroke was composed of three zones i. e. the idle stroke zone, linearly zone and orifice restriction zone. The Beverloo's law was suitable for the granular flow through the multi-orifice during the orifice restriction zone. The variation of average mass flow rate with the valve stroke could be described by modified Beverloo's law based on the valve stroke. DEM simulation results showed that the drained angle of repose remained 23° at different valve strokes. Mass flow rate during steady granular flow through the sphere discharge valve at different valve strokes kept stable. The variation of mass flow rate through a bend tube was different from that through a circular orifice. (author)

Granular flow through an aperture: influence of the packing fraction

OpenAIRE

Alejandra Aguirre , Maria; De Schant , Rosario; Géminard , Jean-Christophe

2014-01-01

For the last 50 years, the flow of a granular material through an aperture has been intensely studied in gravity-driven vertical systems (e.g. silos and hoppers). Nevertheless, in many industrial applications, grains are horizontally transported at constant velocity, lying on conveyor belts or floating on the surface of flowing liquids. Unlike fluid flows, that are controlled by the pressure, granular flow is not sensitive to the local pressure but rather to the local velocity of the grains a...

Voltage fluctuations in granular superconductors in the perpendicular configuration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerashchenko, O V

2003-01-01

The spectral density of voltage fluctuations in granular YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ superconductors in the perpendicular configuration has been studied in the flux flow mode. It has been found that, in this case, the 1/f-voltage noise observed depends weakly on temperature and is associated with motion of a magnetic flux in the superconductor. A comparison of the data obtained with the results of previous measurements in parallel configuration has shown that voltage noise is produced by a single common source, which is presumably associated with self-organization of the critical state in granular superconductors

Segregation of granular binary mixtures by a ratchet mechanism.

Science.gov (United States)

Farkas, Zénó; Szalai, Ferenc; Wolf, Dietrich E; Vicsek, Tamás

2002-02-01

We report on a segregation scheme for granular binary mixtures, where the segregation is performed by a ratchet mechanism realized by a vertically shaken asymmetric sawtooth-shaped base in a quasi-two-dimensional box. We have studied this system by computer simulations and found that most binary mixtures can be segregated using an appropriately chosen ratchet, even when the particles in the two components have the same size and differ only in their normal restitution coefficient or friction coefficient. These results suggest that the components of otherwise nonsegregating granular mixtures may be separated using our method.

Permeability of granular beds emplaced in vertical drill holes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Griffiths, S.K.; Morrison, F.A. Jr.

1979-01-01

To determine the permeabilities of granular materials emplaced in vertical drill holes used for underground nuclear tests, an experiment at the USDOE Nevada Test Site (NTS) was conducted. As the hole is being filled, falling material increases pressure above and within the granular beds beneath. When the filling operation starts or stops, a transient pressure response occurs within the beds; measurements of this response in beds of various compositions were made. The permeabilities after emplacement were found by matching analytical predictions of the response to these data. This information is useful in assuring the containment of nuclear tests conducted in such drill holes

Soluble organic additive effects on stress development during drying of calcium carbonate suspensions.

Science.gov (United States)

Wedin, Pär; Lewis, Jennifer A; Bergström, Lennart

2005-10-01

The effect of polymer, plasticizer, and surfactant additives on stress development during drying of calcium carbonate particulate coatings was studied using a controlled-environment apparatus that simultaneously monitors drying stress, weight loss, and relative humidity. We found that the calcium carbonate coatings display a drying stress evolution typical of granular films, which is characterized by a sharp capillary-induced stress rise followed by a rapid stress relaxation. The addition of a soluble polymer to the CaCO3 suspension resulted in a two-stage stress evolution process. The initial stress rise stems from capillary-pressure-induced stresses within the film, while the second, larger stress rise occurs due to solidification and shrinkage of the polymeric species. Measurements on the corresponding pure polymer solutions established a clear correlation between the magnitude of residual stress in both the polymer and CaCO3-polymer films to the physical properties of the polymer phase, i.e. its glass transition temperature, T(g), and Young's modulus. The addition of small organic molecules can reduce the residual stress observed in the CaCO3-polymer films; e.g., glycerol, which acts as a plasticizer, reduces the drying stress by lowering T(g), while surfactant additions reduce the surface tension of the liquid phase, and, hence, the magnitude of the capillary pressure within the film.

Statistical and visual probing of evolving granular assemblies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, Laurence M.

2002-01-01

The majority of processes in the chemical and allied industries involve the storage and conveyancing of granular material, the physics of which is still not particularly well understood. Whilst some non-invasive techniques have been developed, much experimental work unfortunately interferes with the fields being investigated. For this reason and in conjunction with increasing computing power, there has been an increase in simulation based studies. Granular dynamics simulations, being based upon inter-particle interaction laws, give the potential to investigate assemblies at the 'micro-level' and have been successful in modelling process conditions in a number of granular flow situations. To date, most analyses of these simulations are essentially static in nature involving 'time snapshots'. However, in a granular dynamics simulation there is a wealth of data available on a time referenced basis which has the potential to allow a quantitative analysis of the dynamics of assembly evolution. This dissertation describes the development and application of a toolkit for post-simulation analysis. However, the utilities within the toolkit would be equally applicable to large experimental data sets should such data sets exist. The application of the toolset focuses largely on the dynamics of heap evolution in both 2D and 3D with some supportive 3D work on hopper discharge. A major part of the work involves the application of time series techniques (including the wavelet transform) in the context of variable coupling during avalanching. Segregation by self-diffusion receives particular attention and a new mechanism is proposed by which segregation by particle size takes place in the boundary layer of a low impact feed heap displaying a clear velocity gradient during discrete avalanching. Periodic lateral surging is shown to enforce mixing for a high impact feed, a phenomenon which appears to switch off below a certain feed impact. Segregation by self-diffusion is also shown

Effect of powder sample granularity on fluorescent intensity and on thermal parameters in x-ray diffraction Rietveld analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sparks, C.J.; Specht, E.D.; Ice, G.E.; Kumar, R.; Zschack, P.; Shiraishi, T.; Hisatsune, K.

1991-01-01

The effect of sample granularity on diffracted x-ray intensity was evaluated by measuring the 2θ dependence of x-ray fluorescence from various samples. Measurements were made in the symmetric geometry on samples ranging from single crystals to highly absorbing coarse powders. A characteristic shape for the absorption correction was observed. A demonstration of the sensitivity of Rietveld refined site occupation parameters is made on CuAu and Cu 50 Au 44 Ni 6 alloys refined with and without granularity corrections. These alloys provide a good example of the effect of granularity due to their large linear x-ray absorption coefficients. Sample granularity and refined thermal parameters obtained from the Rietveld analysis were found to be correlated. Without a granularity correction, the refined thermal parameters are too low and can actually become negative in an attempt to compensate for granularity. A general shape for granularity correction can be included in refinement procedures. If no granularity correction is included, data should be restricted to above 30 degrees 2θ, and thermal parameters should be ignored unless extreme precautions are taken to produce >5 μm particles and high packing densities

Improved (0 0 1)-texture of FePt-C for heat-assisted magnetic recording media by insertion of Cr buffer layer

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shiroyama, T.; Wang, J.; Felicia, A.; Takahashi, Y.K.; Hono, K., E-mail: kazuhiro.hono@nims.go.jp

2017-06-15

Highlights: • Improvement of (0 0 1)-texture of prototype FePt-C granular films for heat heat assisted magnetic recording media. • Insertion of Cr buffer layer improves the crystallographic textures of the MgO underlayers, thereby reduces in-plane component in the FePt-C recording layer. • The growth in the grain size of the MgO underlayer as well as the (0 0 1)-texture of the MgO underlayer are the key factor in reducing the in-plane component in the FePt-C recording layer. - Abstract: FePt-C granular films deposited on MgO underlayers are the prototype media for heat-assisted magnetic recording. To reduce the in-plane magnetic component in the FePt-C media, we investigated the effect of Cr buffer layers on the crystallographic textures of the MgO underlayers and the resultant magnetic properties of the FePt-C layers. By growing a MgO underlayer on a Cr buffer layer, the (0 0 1) texture of the MgO underlayer is improved, on which the in-plane component of a FePt-C film is substantially reduced. We conclude that the growth in the grain size of the MgO underlayer is the key factor in reducing the in-plane component in the FePt-C recording layer.

Paediatric laryngeal granular cell tumour

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dauda Ayuba

2009-01-01

Full Text Available Granular cell tumour (GCT affecting the larynx is not common, especially in children. Most cases are apt to be confused with respiratory papilloma and may even be mistaken for a malignant neoplasia. We present a case of laryngeal GCT in a 12-year-old child to emphasize that the tumour should be regarded in the differential of growths affecting the larynx in children.

The Effect of Rotational Speed on Granular Flow in a Vertical Bladed Mixer

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Havlica, Jaromír; Jirounková, K.; Trávníčková, Tereza; Kohout, M.

2015-01-01

Roč. 280, AUG (2015), s. 180-190 ISSN 0032-5910 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP105/12/0664 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 Keywords : DEM * granular mixing * granular dynamics Subject RIV: CI - Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering Impact factor: 2.759, year: 2015

Sorption of cobalt and nickel on anaerobic granular sludges: isotherms and sequential extraction

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hullebusch, van E.D.; Peerbolte, A.; Zandvoort, M.H.; Lens, P.N.L.

2005-01-01

The objective of this study was to investigate the sorption capacity and the fractionation of sorbed nickel and cobalt onto anaerobic granular sludges. Two different anaerobic granular sludges (non-fed, pH = 7) were loaded with nickel and cobalt in. adsorption experiments (monometal and competitive

Density-wave fronts on the brink of wet granular condensation

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Kai; Zippelius, Andreas; Sand lab @ University of Bayreuth Team

2017-11-01

From sand dunes to Faraday heaping, driven granular matter, i.e., large agglomeration of macroscopic particles, is rich pattern forming system. When a granular material is partially wet (e.g., wet sand on the beach), a different pattern forming scenario arises due to the cohesive particle-particle interactions. Here, we focus on the formation of density-wave fronts in an oscillated wet granular layer undergoing a gas-liquid-like transition. The threshold of the instability is governed by the amplitude of the vertical vibrations. Fronts, which are curved into a spiral shape, propagate coherently along the circular rim of the container with leading edges. They are stable beyond a critical distance from the container center. Based on the measurement of the critical distance and the rotation frequency, we propose a model for the pattern formation by considering the competition between the time scale for the collapse of cohesive particles and that of the energy injection resisting this process. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant No. HU1939 4-1).

Granularity controlled irradiation response of cuprate superconductors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, N.C.; Behera, D.; Mohanty, T.; Mohanta, D.; Kanjilal, D.; Mehta, G.K.; Pinto, R.

1999-01-01

Confining to an energy range where ions can neither create defects through elastic energy loss nor they can create defects through latent track formation, we study the effect of 140 MeV Si-ion irradiation in YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-x (YBCO). We show that the evolution of superconducting and normal state properties in such situation is largely governed by the initial defects structure, particularly the grain boundary characteristics of the YBCO system. Both intra- and inter-granular defect structure in films of two batches were made widely different by having Ag as composite and substituent in one and by aging the other prior to irradiation. Evolution of the resistivity vs temperature characteristics in these films with ion fluence reveals the importance of Ag in bringing about both inter- and intra-granular modifications and making the films insensitive to ion irradiation

Granular flows on erodible layers: type and evolution of flow and deposit structures

Science.gov (United States)

Crosta, G.; De Blasio, F.; De Caro, M.; Volpi, G.; Frattini, P.

2012-04-01

The interaction of a fast moving landslide mass with the basal layer over which movement takes place has been discussed in previous contributions. Nevertheless, the evolution of the structures within the moving mass and the erodible layer are still to be described in detail (Hungr and Evans, 2004; Crosta et al., 1992, 2006, 2009, 2011; Dufresne et al., 2010; Mangeney et al., 2010) and modeling results (Crosta et al., 2006, 2009, 2011; Mangeney et al., 2010). We present some of the results from a campaign of laboratory experiments aimed at studying the evolution of a granular flow at the impact with and during the successive spreading over a cohesionless erodible layer. We performed these test to study the processes and to collect data and evidences to compare them with the results of numerical simulations and to verify capabilities of numerical codes. The laboratory setup consists of an inclined slope and an horizontal sector where release and transport, and deposition take place, respectively. Materials used for the tests are: a uniform rounded siliceous sand (Hostun sand; 0.125-0.5 mm) commonly adopted in lab tests because free of scale effects, and a gravel made of angular elements (12 mm in ave. size). Both the materials have been tested in dry conditions. Different slope angles have been tested (40, 45, 50, 55, 50, 66°) as well as different thicknesses of the erodible layer (0, 0.5, 1, 2 cm) and volumes of the released material (1.5, 3, 5, 9.6 liters). Tests have been monitored by means of a high speed camera and the pre- and post-failure geometries have been surveyed by means of a laser scanner. Deposit description allowed also the computation of volumes and the characterization of the different structures developed and frozen into the deposit. Experiments allowed us to observe the extreme processes occurring during the movement and the mise en place of the deposits. In particular, we observe the formation of a clear wave-like feature developing during the

Transport and fluctuations in granular fluids from Boltzmann equation to hydrodynamics, diffusion and motor effects

CERN Document Server

Puglisi, Andrea

2015-01-01

This brief offers a concise presentation of granular fluids from the  point of view of non-equilibrium statistical physics. The emphasis is on fluctuations, which can be large in granular fluids due to the small system size (the number of grains is many orders of magnitude smaller than in molecular fluids). Firstly, readers will be introduced to the most intriguing experiments on fluidized granular fluids. Then granular fluid theory, which goes through increasing levels of coarse-graining and emerging collective phenomena, is described. Problems and questions are initially posed at the level of kinetic theory, which describes particle densities in full or reduced phase-space. Some answers become clear through hydrodynamics, which describes the evolution of slowly evolving fields. Granular fluctuating hydrodynamics, which builds a bridge to the most recent results in non-equilibrium statistical mechanics, is also introduced. Further and more interesting answers come when the dynamics of a massive intruder are...

Thermal performance of a double-pass solar collector with porous media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elradi A Musa; Kamaruzzaman Sopian; Shahrir Abdullah

2006-01-01

Thermal performance of a double-pass solar collector has been developed for air following through the porous media. The porous media are arranged in different porosities to increase heat transfer, area density and the total heat transfer rate. A test collector was developed and tested indoors by varying the design features and operating conditions using a halogen-lamp simulator as a radiation source. An experimental setup as been designed and constructed. Comparisons of the theoretical and the experimental result have been conducted. This type of collector can be used for drying and heat applications such as solar industrial processes, space and solar drying of agricultural products

Particle size distributions, size concentration relationships, and adherence to hands of selected geologic media derived from mining, smelting, and quarrying activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bergstrom, Carolyn; Shirai, Jeffry; Kissel, John, E-mail: jkissel@uw.edu

2011-09-15

Hand-to-mouth activity, especially in children, is a potentially significant pathway of exposure to soil contaminants. Hand-mouthing behavior is of particular concern in areas impacted by mining, smelting, and quarrying activities as these activities may lead to elevated levels of heavy metals in soil. In order to estimate potential exposures to contaminated geologic media attributable to hand-to-mouth contact, it is useful to characterize adherence of those media to skin, as contaminant concentrations in adhered media may differ greatly from unfractionated, whole media concentrations. Such an investigation has been undertaken to aid estimation of exposures to arsenic, cadmium, lead, and zinc in nine different geologic media collected in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. After establishing the particle size distribution of each medium (fractions < 63 {mu}m, 63-150 {mu}m, 150-250 {mu}m, and 250 {mu}m-2 mm were determined) and target elemental concentrations within each particle size fraction, an active handling protocol involving six volunteers was conducted. Wet media always adhered to a greater extent than dry media and adhered media generally had higher elemental concentrations than bulk media. Regression analyses suggest smaller particle fractions may have higher elemental concentrations. Results of application of a maximum likelihood estimation technique generally indicate that handling of dry media leads to preferential adherence of smaller particle sizes, while handling of wet media does not. Because adhered material can differ greatly in particle size distribution from that found in bulk material, use of bulk concentrations in exposure calculations may lead to poor estimation of actual exposures. Since lead has historically been a metal of particular concern, EPA's Integrated Exposure Uptake Biokinetic (IEUBK) Model was used to examine the potential consequences of evaluating ingestion of the selected media assuming concentrations in

Experiments and characterization of low-frequency oscillations in a granular column

Science.gov (United States)

Oyarte Gálvez, Loreto; Rivas, Nicolás; van der Meer, Devaraj

2018-04-01

The behavior of a vertically vibrated granular bed is reminiscent of a liquid in that it exhibits many phenomena such as convection and Faraday-like surface waves. However, when the lateral dimensions of the bed are confined such that a quasi-one-dimensional geometry is formed, the only phenomena that remain are bouncing bed and the granular Leidenfrost effect. This permits the observation of the granular Leidenfrost state for a wide range of energy injection parameters and more specifically allows for a thorough characterization of the low-frequency oscillation (LFO) that is present in this state. In both experiments and particle simulations we determine the LFO frequency from the power spectral density of the center-of-mass signal of the grains, varying the amplitude and frequency of the driving, the particle diameter, and the number of layers in the system. We thus find that the LFO frequency (i) is inversely proportional to the fast inertial timescale and (ii) decorrelates with a typical decay time proportional to the slow dissipative timescale in the system. The latter is consistent with the view that the LFO is driven by the inherent noise that is present in the granular Leidenfrost state with a low number of particles.

A review on numerical models for granular flow inside hoppers and its applications in PBR

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tang Yushi; Guo Qiuju; Zhang Liguo

2015-01-01

Granular flow is the shearing motion of a collection of discrete solid particles which are commonly seen and widely utilized in various industrial applications. One of the essential applications of dense slow granular flow in engineering is the pebble flow in pebble-bed nuclear reactor (PBR). A number of numerical models have been established for researching the basic physical mechanisms and properties of granular flow. For the purpose of generating an appropriate model for high temperature reactor-pebblebed modules (HTR-PM) in the future, numerical models on granular flow in hoppers and some of their previous applications on PBRs are reviewed. In this paper, basic transport and contact mechanisms of granular flow are firstly introduced, then kinetic theory from gas molecules and plastic theory from metal mechanics approaches give descriptions of the macroscopic behavior of rapid flow and quasistatic flow regimes, respectively, subsequently kinematic continuum method and discrete element method (DEM) are presented to describe the bulk features of dense slow flow in hoppers. Since various kinematic models, DEM models and their modified versions for dense slow granular flow in hoppers have been experimentally verified and applied in prediction of pebble flow in PBRs, a promising model for HTR-PM is expected with further work to generate pebble flow profile in the future. (author)

Suitability of granular carbon as an anode material for sediment microbial fuel cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Arends, Jan B.A.; Blondeel, Evelyne; Boon, Nico; Verstraete, Willy [Ghent Univ. (Belgium). Faculty of Bioscience Engineering; Tennison, Steve R. [Mast Carbon International Ltd., Basingstoke, Hampshire (United Kingdom)

2012-08-15

Purpose: Sediment microbial fuel cells (S-MFCs) are bio-electrochemical devices that are able to oxidize organic matter directly into harvestable electrical power. The flux of organic matter into the sediment is rather low; therefore, other researchers have introduced plants for a continuous supply of organic matter to the anode electrode. Until now only interconnected materials have been considered as anode materials in S-MFCs. Here, granular carbon materials were investigated for their suitability as an anode material in S-MFCs. Materials and methods: Laboratory microcosms with eight different electrode materials (granules, felts and cloths) were examined with controlled organic matter addition under brackish conditions. Current density, organic matter removal and microbial community composition were monitored using 16S rRNA gene PCR followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The main parameters investigated were the influence of the amount of electrode material applied to the sediment, the size of the granular material and the electrode configuration. Results and discussion: Felt material had an overall superior performance in terms of current density per amount of applied electrode material; felt and granular anode obtained similar current densities (approx. 50-60 mA m{sup -2}), but felt materials required 29 % less material to be applied. Yet, when growing plants, granular carbon is more suited because it is considered to restore, upon disturbance, the electrical connectivity within the anode compartment. Small granules (0.25-0.5 mm) gave the highest current density compared to larger granules (1-5 mm) of the same material. Granules with a rough surface had a better performance compared to smooth granules of the same size. The different granular materials lead to a selection of distinct microbial communities for each material, as shown by DGGE. Conclusions: Granular carbon is suitable as an anode material for S-MFCs. This opens the possibility

Energy-saving drying and its application

Science.gov (United States)

Kovbasyuk, V. I.

2015-09-01

Superheated steam is efficiently applied as a coolant for the intensification of drying, which is an important component of many up-to-date technologies. However, traditional drying is extremely energy consuming, and many drying apparatus are environmentally unfriendly. Thus, it is important to implement the proposed drying technique using superheated steam under pressure significantly higher than the atmospheric one with subsequent steam transfer for use in a turbine for electric power generation as a compensation of energy costs for drying. This paper includes a brief thermodynamic analysis of such a technique, its environmental advantages, and possible benefits of the use of wet wastes and obtaining high-quality fuels from wet raw materials. A scheme is developed for the turbine protection from impurities that can occur in the steam at drying. Potential advantage of the technique are also the absence of heating surfaces that are in contact with wet media, the absence of the emissions to the atmosphere, and the use of low potential heat for desalination and the purification of water. The new drying technique can play an extremely important part in the implementation in the field of thermal destruction of anthropogenic wastes. In spite of the promotion of waste sorting to obtain valuable secondary raw materials, the main problem of big cities is nonutilizable waste, which makes not less than 85% of the starting quantity of waste. This can only be totally solved by combustion, which even more relates to the sewage sludge utilization. The wastes can be safely and efficiently combusted only provided that they are free of moisture. Combustion temperature optimization makes possible full destruction of dioxins and their toxic analogues.

Adsorption of Benzaldehyde on Granular Activated Carbon: Kinetics, Equilibrium, and Thermodynamic

OpenAIRE

Rajoriya, R.K.; Prasad, B.; Mishra, I.M.; Wasewar, K.L.

2007-01-01

Adsorption isotherms of benzaldehyde from aqueous solutions onto granular activated carbon have been determined and studied the effect of dosage of granular activated carbon, contact time, and temperature on adsorption. Optimum conditions for benzaldehyde removal were found adsorbent dose 4 g l–1 of solution and equilibrium time t 4 h. Percent removal of benzaldehyde increases with the increase in adsorbent dose for activated carbon, however, it decreases with increase in benzaldehyde m...

A therapeutic and diagnostic dilemma: granular cell tumor of the breast.

Science.gov (United States)

Pergel, Ahmet; Yucel, Ahmet Fikret; Karaca, A Serdar; Aydin, Ibrahim; Sahin, Dursun Ali; Demirbag, Nilgun

2011-01-01

Six to eight percent of granular cell tumors are seen in the breast. Although mostly benign, they rarely have malignant features clinically and radiologically reminding of breast cancer. This may lead to a potential misdiagnosis of breast carcinoma and overtreatment of patients. The final diagnosis is made by immunohistochemical examination. We performed excisional biopsy on a patient who was diagnosed to have a breast mass. The histopathological examination of the mass revealed granular cell tumor.

Scattering of waves by impurities in precompressed granular chains.

Science.gov (United States)

Martínez, Alejandro J; Yasuda, Hiromi; Kim, Eunho; Kevrekidis, P G; Porter, Mason A; Yang, Jinkyu

2016-05-01

We study scattering of waves by impurities in strongly precompressed granular chains. We explore the linear scattering of plane waves and identify a closed-form expression for the reflection and transmission coefficients for the scattering of the waves from both a single impurity and a double impurity. For single-impurity chains, we show that, within the transmission band of the host granular chain, high-frequency waves are strongly attenuated (such that the transmission coefficient vanishes as the wavenumber k→±π), whereas low-frequency waves are well-transmitted through the impurity. For double-impurity chains, we identify a resonance-enabling full transmission at a particular frequency-in a manner that is analogous to the Ramsauer-Townsend (RT) resonance from quantum physics. We also demonstrate that one can tune the frequency of the RT resonance to any value in the pass band of the host chain. We corroborate our theoretical predictions both numerically and experimentally, and we directly observe almost complete transmission for frequencies close to the RT resonance frequency. Finally, we show how this RT resonance can lead to the existence of reflectionless modes in granular chains (including disordered ones) with multiple double impurities.

Granular Gas in a Periodic Lattice

Science.gov (United States)

Dorbolo, S.; Brandenbourger, M.; Damanet, F.; Dister, H.; Ludewig, F.; Terwagne, D.; Lumay, G.; Vandewalle, N.

2011-01-01

Glass beads are placed in the compartments of a horizontal square grid. This grid is then vertically shaken. According to the reduced acceleration [image omitted] of the system, the granular material exhibits various behaviours. By counting the number of beads in each compartment after shaking, it is possible to define three regimes. At low…

10th International Conference “Traffic and Granular Flow”

CERN Document Server

Boltes, Maik; Schadschneider, Andreas; Seyfried, Armin

2015-01-01

This book continues the biannual series of conference proceedings, which has become a classical reference resource in traffic and granular research alike, and addresses the latest developments at the intersection of physics, engineering and computational science. These involve complex systems, in which multiple simple agents, be they vehicles or particles, give rise to surprising and fascinating phenomena. The contributions collected in these proceedings cover several research fields, all of which deal with transport. Topics include highway, pedestrian and internet traffic; granular matter; biological transport; transport networks; data acquisition; data analysis and technological applications. Different perspectives, i.e., modeling, simulations, experiments, and phenomenological observations are considered.    

Critical fields of niobium nitride films of various granularity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Antonova, E.A.; Sukhov, V.A.

1983-01-01

The behaviour of lattice parameter, specific electrical resistivity, critical temperature, and temperature dependence of upper critical field near Tsub(cr) of sputtered niobium nitride films is investigated versus the substrate temperature and gas mixture composition in the process of reactive cathode sputtering. The relation between extrapolated value of the upper critical field and granularity of niobium nitride films, close as to composition to the stoichiometric one, has been found. Values of the kappa parameter of the Ginsburg-Landau theory and of the coherence length for niobium nitride films of various granularity are estimated in an approximation of uniform distribution of impurities in a sample

Frost susceptibility of granular subbase materials contaminated by deicing chemicals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Anders Stuhr; Orlander, Tobias; Doré, Guy

2013-01-01

The increase in urban population in arctic areas leads to an increased demand for transportation infrastructures (such as roads and airfields) in the regions. This challenges the road constructions in terms of condition, bearing capacity and maintenance. It is believed that deicing agents used...... on roads and airfields enter the granular subbase materials and thereby makes the soil more frost-susceptible. In this project a series of isothermal frost heave tests has been carried out on granular subbase material from the runway at Kuujjuaq Airport, Québec, Canada. The tests have been carried out...

Effect of Media on Algae Growth for Bio-Fuel Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sriharsha KARAMPUDI

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Bio-fuels are commonly produced from oleaginous crops, such as rapeseed, soybean, sunflower and oil palm. However, microalgae can be an attractive alternative feedstock for future biofuels because some of the species contain very high amounts of oil, which can be used to extract and be processed into transportation fuels. Their growth rate is very high and faster, can be cultivated in non-agricultural land and waste water. In addition, production of microalgae is not seasonal and they can be harvested routinely as needed. Two strains of Scenedesmus dimorphus (fresh water microalgae were tested for their growth in proteose medium and Modified Bold 3N medium with different levels of nitrogen and glycerol and growth rates were measured using cell count, fresh and dry weight. The growth of S. dimorphus was better in proteose medium with half of the nitrogen source recommended by the UTEX than other media tested. ANOVA table showed significant differences between days, between media, and day media interaction. When compared to dry weight of S. dimorphus in all media, the growth was better in proteose medium with 10 mL/L glycerol.

Effect of Media on Algae Growth for Bio-Fuel Production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sriharsha KARAMPUDI

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Bio-fuels are commonly produced from oleaginous crops, such as rapeseed, soybean, sunflower and oil palm. However, microalgae can be an attractive alternative feedstock for future biofuels because some of the species contain very high amounts of oil, which can be used to extract and be processed into transportation fuels. Their growth rate is very high and faster, can be cultivated in non-agricultural land and waste water. In addition, production of microalgae is not seasonal and they can be harvested routinely as needed. Two strains of Scenedesmus dimorphus (fresh water microalgae were tested for their growth in proteose medium and Modified Bold 3N medium with different levels of nitrogen and glycerol and growth rates were measured using cell count, fresh and dry weight. The growth of S. dimorphus was better in proteose medium with half of the nitrogen source recommended by the UTEX than other media tested. ANOVA table showed significant differences between days, between media, and day � media interaction. When compared to dry weight of S. dimorphus in all media, the growth was better in proteose medium with 10 mL/L glycerol.

Behaviour of slag HPC submitted to immersion-drying cycles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rabah Chaid

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article is part of a summary of the work developed in conjunction with the Laboratory of Civil Engineering and Mechanical Engineering from INSA Rennes and Research Unit: Materials, Processes and Environment, University of Boumerdes. One of the objectives was indeed to promote, through studies of variants, the use of local cementitious additions in the formulation of high performance concretes (HPC. The binding contribution of mineral additions to the physical, mechanical and durability of concrete was evaluated by an experimental methodology to subjugate their original granular and pozzolanic effect. The results show that the contribution of couple cement -slag intensification of the matrix is higher than that obtained when the cement is not substituted by addition. Therefore, a significant improvement in performance of concretes was observed, despite the adverse action immersion cycles - drying maintained for 365 days.

A Therapeutic and Diagnostic Dilemma: Granular Cell Tumor of the Breast

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ahmet Pergel

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Six to eight percent of granular cell tumors are seen in the breast. Although mostly benign, they rarely have malignant features clinically and radiologically reminding of breast cancer. This may lead to a potential misdiagnosis of breast carcinoma and overtreatment of patients. The final diagnosis is made by immunohistochemical examination. We performed excisional biopsy on a patient who was diagnosed to have a breast mass. The histopathological examination of the mass revealed granular cell tumor.

Pion showers in highly granular calorimeters

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

New results on properties of hadron showers created by pion beam at 8–80 GeV in high granular electromagnetic and hadron calorimeters are presented. Data were used for the first time to investigate the separation of the neutral and charged hadron showers. The result is important to verify the prediction of the PFA ...

A review of Education and Social Media using functionalist and conflict theories of educational purposes

Science.gov (United States)

Cian, Heidi; Amann, Holly

2017-11-01

Education and Social Media: Toward a Digital Future (2016), edited by Christine Greenhow, Julia Sonnevend, and Colin Agur, is a compilation of essays by leading contributors to the digital and social media movement in education. The chapters within this volume provide a granular look at the current landscape of how digital media is utilized across educational levels, fields of study, and geographic areas. The book is divided into three sections discussing the emerging use of social media in education, challenges in its implementation, and potential directions as tech-based education continues to evolve. In this review, we situate the ideas presented in Education and Social Media in the functionalist and conflict theories of educational perspective to further illuminate the potential of digital learning in supporting increased access to education for marginalized student populations. We discuss how these competing views are both given voice in Education and Social Media, prompting the reader to critically reflect on advantages and dangers presented by increased use of technological platforms in educational settings. Topics discussed include online universities, peer-developed curriculum, and differential use of technology based on school socioeconomic demographics. We also suggest areas that have emerged in need of further discussion since the book's publication.

Inhibition of ochratoxigenic moulds by Debaryomyces hansenii strains for biopreservation of dry-cured meat products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andrade, Maria J.; Thorsen, Line; Rodríguez, Alicia

2014-01-01

mould growth and OTA accumulation in dry-cured meat products. The inoculation of D. hansenii should be made at the beginning of processing (at the end of post salting) when the a(w) of the product is still high (near 0.94). This action in addition to application of appropriate hygienic actions......The ability of the osmotolerant yeast Debaryomyces hansenii to inhibit Penicillium nordicum, the most common ochratoxigenic mould encountered in dry-cured meat products, was evaluated. The antagonistic effect of ten D. hansenii strains isolated from dry-cured ham was screened in vitro using malt...... extract media and meat extract peptone media with the water activity (a(w)) adjusted to 0.97 and 0.90. A significant inhibition of the two tested P. nordicum strains by D. hansenii cells and cell-free supernatants was observed. At 0.97 a(w), increasing D. hansenii inoculum concentrations significantly...

Cahn-Hiliard theory for unstable granular fluids

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Noije, T.P.C.; Ernst, M.H.

A Cahn-Hilliard-type theory for hydrodynamic fluctuations is proposed that gives a quantitative description of the slowly evolving spatial correlations and structures in density and flow fields in the early stages of evolution of freely cooling granular fluids. Two mechanisms for pattern selection

Random packing of colloids and granular matter

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wouterse, A.

2008-01-01

This thesis deals with the random packing of colloids and granular matter. A random packing is a stable disordered collection of touching particles, without long-range positional and orientational order. Experimental random packings of particles with the same shape but made of different materials

The Rolling Transition in a Granular Flow along a Rotating Wall

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurélie Le Quiniou

2011-11-01

Full Text Available The flow of a dry granular material composed of spherical particles along a rotating boundary has been studied by the discrete element method (DEM. This type of flow is used, among others, as a process to spread particles. The flow consists of several phases. A compression phase along the rotating wall is followed by an elongation of the flow along the same boundary. Eventually, the particles slide or roll independently along the boundary. We show that the main motion of the flow can be characterized by a complex deformation rate of traction/compression and shear. We define numerically an effective friction coefficient of the flow on the scale of the continuum and show a strong decrease of this effective friction beyond a certain critical friction coefficient μ*. We correlate this phenomenon with the apparition of a new transition from a sliding regime to a rolling without sliding regime that we called the rolling transition; this dynamic transition is controlled by the value of the friction coefficient between the particle and the wall. We show that the spherical shape for the particles may represent an optimum for the flow in terms of energetic.

The Stability Analysis Method of the Cohesive Granular Slope on the Basis of Graph Theory.

Science.gov (United States)

Guan, Yanpeng; Liu, Xiaoli; Wang, Enzhi; Wang, Sijing

2017-02-27

This paper attempted to provide a method to calculate progressive failure of the cohesivefrictional granular geomaterial and the spatial distribution of the stability of the cohesive granular slope. The methodology can be divided into two parts: the characterization method of macro-contact and the analysis of the slope stability. Based on the graph theory, the vertexes, the edges and the edge sequences are abstracted out to characterize the voids, the particle contact and the macro-contact, respectively, bridging the gap between the mesoscopic and macro scales of granular materials. This paper adopts this characterization method to extract a graph from a granular slope and characterize the macro sliding surface, then the weighted graph is analyzed to calculate the slope safety factor. Each edge has three weights representing the sliding moment, the anti-sliding moment and the braking index of contact-bond, respectively, . The safety factor of the slope is calculated by presupposing a certain number of sliding routes and reducing Weight repeatedly and counting the mesoscopic failure of the edge. It is a kind of slope analysis method from mesoscopic perspective so it can present more detail of the mesoscopic property of the granular slope. In the respect of macro scale, the spatial distribution of the stability of the granular slope is in agreement with the theoretical solution.

Effects of Noise and Vibration on the Solid to Liquid Fluidization Transition in Small Dense Granular Systems Under Shear

Science.gov (United States)

Melhus, Martin Frederic

2011-07-01

Granular materials exhibit bulk properties that are distinct from conventional solids, liq- uids, and gases, due to the dissipative nature of the inter-granular forces. Understanding the fundamentals of granular materials draws upon and gives insight into many fields at the current frontiers of physics, such as plasticity of solids, fracture and friction, com- plex systems such as colloids, foams and suspensions, and a variety of biological systems. Particulate flows are widespread in geophysics, and are also essential to many industries. Despite the importance of these phenomena, we lack a theoretical model that explains most behaviors of granular materials. Since granular assemblies are highly dissipative, they are often far from mechanical equilibrium, making most classical analyses inappli- cable. A theory for dilute granular systems exists, but for dense granular systems (by far the majority of granular systems in the real world) no comparable theory is accepted. We approach this problem by examining the fluidization, or transition from solid to liquid, in dense granular systems. In this study, the separate effects of random noise and vibration on the static to flowing transition of a dense granular assembly under planar shear is studied numerically using soft contact particle dynamics simulations in two dimensions. We focus on small systems in a thin planar Couette cell, examining the bistable region while increasing shear, with varying amounts of random noise or vibration, and determine the statistics of the shear required for the onset of flow. We find that the applied power is the key parameter in determining the magnitude of the effects of the noise or vibration, with vibration frequency also having an influence. Similarities and differences between noise and vibration are determined, and the results compare favorably with a two phase model for dense granular flow.

Large granular lymphocytosis in a patient infected with HTLV-II.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, M P; Biggar, R J; Hamlin-Green, G; Staal, S; Mann, D

1993-08-01

HTLV-II has been associated with a variety of lymphoproliferative disorders, including atypical hairy cell leukemia, chronic T cell leukemia, T prolymphocytic leukemia, and large granular lymphocytic leukemia. However, a direct or indirect role for HTLV-II in these disorders is not yet firmly established. We studied a patient diagnosed as having leukemia of the large granular lymphocyte (LGL) type who was HTLV-II seropositive, to determine if the expanded cell population was infected. Two populations of CD3-CD16+ LGL were identified; one was CD8+, the other CD8-. Populations of cells with these surface markers as well as normal CD3+CD4+ and CD3+CD8+ cells were separated by flow cytometric methods, DNA extracted, and gene regions of HTLV-II pol and tax amplified, using the polymerase chain reaction, and probed after Southern blotting. HTLV-II was detected in the CD3+CD8+ population, and not in the CD3-CD16+ large granular lymphocyte population. This finding indicates that the role of HTLV-II, if any, in LGL proliferation is indirect.

Recent advances in understanding deformation and flow of granular matter

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mesarović Siniša Đ.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available By means of graph theory, we analyze the changes in topology of a granular assembly during deformation. The elementary mechanism of diffuse deformation consists of intermittent flips. We show that dilatancy is the direct result of: an increasing number of flips, and, elastic relaxation of particles upon flips. Both are dependent on particles' elastic potential energy prior to flip and after the flip. The latter is the result of non uniform distribution of interparticle forces in force chains. Next, we consider shear bands in granular materials. Formation of shear bands is accompanied by accompanied by massive rolling of particle. Since rolling is constrained by neighbors, a characteristic rolling correlation length appears. The transmission of rotations in a particular direction depends on the strength of the force chain branches in the direction of propagation and across. The maximum propagation distance is comparable to observed widths of shear bands. Finally, we turn to the question of vortex formation within shear bands and argue that vortex pattern minimizes the dissipation/resistance in granular fluid.

Redox-active media for permeable reactive barriers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sivavec, T.M.; Mackenzie, P.D.; Horney, D.P.; Baghel, S.S.

1997-01-01

In this paper, three classes of redox-active media are described and evaluated in terms of their long-term effectiveness in treating TCE-contaminated groundwater in permeable reactive zones. Zero-valent iron, in the form of recycled cast iron filings, the first class, has received considerable attention as a reactive media and has been used in about a dozen pilot- and full-scale subsurface wall installations. Criteria used in selecting commercial sources of granular iron, will be discussed. Two other classes of redox-active media that have not yet seen wide use in pilot- or full-scale installations will also be described: Fe(II) minerals and bimetallic systems. Fe(II) minerals, including magnetite (Fe 3 O 4 ), and ferrous sulfide (troilite, FeS), are redox-active and afford TCE reduction rates and product distributions that suggest that they react via a reductive mechanism similar to that which operates in the FeO system. Fe(II) species within the passive oxide layer coating the iron metal may act as electron transfer mediators, with FeO serving as the bulk reductant. Bimetallic systems, the third class of redox-active media, are commonly prepared by plating a second metal onto zero-valent iron (e.g., Ni/Fe and Pd/Fe) and have been shown to accelerate solvent degradation rates relative to untreated iron metal. The long-term effectiveness of this approach, however, has not yet been determined in groundwater treatability tests. The results of a Ni-plated iron column study using site groundwater indicate that a change in reduction mechanism (to catalytic dehydrohalogenation/hydrogenation) accounts for the observed rate enhancement. A significant loss in media reactivity was observed over time, attributable to Ni catalyst deactivation or poisoning. Zero-valent iron systems have not shown similar losses in reactivity in long-term laboratory, pilot or field investigations

Granular activated carbon assisted ozonation of cephalexin antibiotic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Akhtar, J.; Amin, N.S.; Imran, M.

2016-01-01

This study investigates removal of cephalexin using ozonation in the presence of granular activated carbon. Initial experiments were carried out about adsorption of cephalexin onto granular activated carbon, effect of catalytic ozonation, and biodegradability of cephalexin solution. The effect of ozonation on pH, ozone utilization efficiency and decomposition byproducts, was observed. Response surface methodology was adopted to optimize three operating parameters pH of solution, ozone supply and cephalexin concentration. GAC assisted ozonation, was found to be effective in decomposing COD (chemical oxygen demand) and cephalexin from solution. Optimum values of variables were pH from 7-8, ozone supply 30 mg/L and 100 mg/L of cephalexin solution. The complete removal of cephalexin and 60% COD removal was achieved at these optimum input values. (author)

The calculation of resonance capture in granular fuels

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Askew, J R; Harris, D W.G.; Hutton, J L

1971-02-15

The methods used in the UK for the calculation of resonance capture in granular HTR fuels follow the long established path of determining a 'geometric equivalence' which equates the resonance shielding to that in a homogeneous mixture of the resonance absorber in hydrogen. Simple collision probability arguments, usually for the black limit, were used for AGR and SGHW systems. For granular fuel a 'grey' equivalence, convenient for numerical use, has been adopted, and the geometric solution performed in two ways: by a synthetic collision probability model which is rapid and appropriate for design work and by a Monte Carlo model which allows details of the grain lattice structure to be studied. The results are in good agreement, and are shown to give good results compared with measured relative conversion ratios in the NESTOR stack experiments.

Modeling compaction-induced energy dissipation of granular HMX

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gonthier, K.A. [Lamar Univ., Beaumont, TX (US). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Menikoff, R.; Son, S.F.; Asay, B.W. [Los Alamos National Lab., NM (US)

1998-12-31

A thermodynamically consistent model is developed for the compaction of granular solids. The model is an extension of the single phase limit of two-phase continuum models used to describe Deflagration-to-Detonation Transition (DDT) experiments. The focus is on the energetics and dissipation of the compaction process. Changes in volume fraction are partitioned into reversible and irreversible components. Unlike conventional DDT models, the model is applicable from the quasi-static to dynamic compaction regimes for elastic, plastic, or brittle materials. When applied to the compaction of granular HMX (a brittle material), the model predicts results commensurate with experiments including stress relaxation, hysteresis, and energy dissipation. The model provides a suitable starting point for the development of thermal energy localization sub-scale models based on compaction-induced dissipation.

Novel Discrete Element Method for 3D non-spherical granular particles.

Science.gov (United States)

Seelen, Luuk; Padding, Johan; Kuipers, Hans

2015-11-01

Granular materials are common in many industries and nature. The different properties from solid behavior to fluid like behavior are well known but less well understood. The main aim of our work is to develop a discrete element method (DEM) to simulate non-spherical granular particles. The non-spherical shape of particles is important, as it controls the behavior of the granular materials in many situations, such as static systems of packed particles. In such systems the packing fraction is determined by the particle shape. We developed a novel 3D discrete element method that simulates the particle-particle interactions for a wide variety of shapes. The model can simulate quadratic shapes such as spheres, ellipsoids, cylinders. More importantly, any convex polyhedron can be used as a granular particle shape. These polyhedrons are very well suited to represent non-rounded sand particles. The main difficulty of any non-spherical DEM is the determination of particle-particle overlap. Our model uses two iterative geometric algorithms to determine the overlap. The algorithms are robust and can also determine multiple contact points which can occur for these shapes. With this method we are able to study different applications such as the discharging of a hopper or silo. Another application the creation of a random close packing, to determine the solid volume fraction as a function of the particle shape.

Freeze-drying wet digital prints: An option for salvage?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Juergens, M C; Schempp, N

2010-01-01

On the occasion of the collapse of the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne in March 2009 and the ensuing salvage effort, questions were raised about the use of freeze-drying for soaked digital prints, a technique that has not yet been evaluated for these materials. This study examines the effects of immersion, air-drying, drying in a blotter stack, freezing and freeze-drying on 35 samples of major digital printing processes. The samples were examined visually before, during and after testing; evaluation of the results was qualitative. Results show that some prints were already damaged by immersion alone (e.g. bleeding inks and soluble coatings) to the extent that the subsequent choice of drying method made no significant difference any more. For those samples that did survive immersion, air-drying proved to be crucial for water-sensitive prints, since any contact with the wet surface caused serious damage. Less water-sensitive prints showed no damage throughout the entire procedure, regardless of drying method. Some prints on coated media suffered from minor surface disruption up to total delamination of the surface coating due to the formation of ice crystals during shock-freezing. With few exceptions, freeze-drying did not cause additional damage to any of the prints that hadn't already been damaged by freezing. It became clear that an understanding of the process and materials is important for choosing an appropriate drying method.

Microgravity experiments on a granular gas of elongated grains

Science.gov (United States)

Harth, K.; Trittel, T.; Kornek, U.; Höme, S.; Will, K.; Strachauer, U.; Stannarius, R.

2013-06-01

Granular gases represent well-suited systems to investigate statistical granular dynamics. The literature comprises numerous investigations of ensembles of spherical or irregularly shaped grains. Mainly computer models, analytical theories and experiments restricted to two dimensions were reported. In three-dimensions, the gaseous state can only be maintained by strong external excitation, e. g. vibrations or electro-magnetic fields, or in microgravity. A steady state, where the dynamics of a weakly disturbed granular gas are governed by particle-particle collisions, is hard to realize with spherical grains due to clustering. We present the first study of a granular gas of elongated cylinders in three dimensions. The mean free path is considerably reduced with respect to spheres at comparable filling fractions. The particles can be tracked in 3D over a sequence of frames. In a homogeneous steady state, we find non-Gaussian velocity distributions and a lack of equipartition of kinetic energy. We discuss the relations between energy input and vibrating plate accelerations. At the request of the authors and the Proceedings Editors, the PDF file of this article has been updated to amend some references present in the PDF file submitted to AIP Publishing. The references affected are listed here:[1] (c) K. Nichol and K. E. Daniels, Phys. Rev. Lett. 108, 018001 (2012); [11] (e) P. G. de Gennes and J. Prost, The Physics of Liquid Crystals, Clarendon Press, Oxford (1993); [17] (b) K. Harth, et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 144102 (2013).A LaTeX processing error resulted in changes to the authors reference formatting, which was not detected prior to publication. Due apologies are given to the authors for this oversight. The updated article PDF was published on 12 August 2013.

Stress distribution in quasi-crystalline granular piles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Trigger, S.A.; Heijst, van G.J.F.; Krasnopolskaya, T.S.; Schram, P.P.J.M.

2001-01-01

The main goal of this paper is a rigorous consideration of the stress problem in some simple models of granular piles. Discrete models are considered and the transition to the continuous description is accomplished in order to find the coarse-grained average stress. Some phenomenological rules are

Wrinkles, folds, and plasticity in granular rafts

Science.gov (United States)

Jambon-Puillet, Etienne; Josserand, Christophe; Protière, Suzie

2017-09-01

We investigate the mechanical response of a compressed monolayer of large and dense particles at a liquid-fluid interface: a granular raft. Upon compression, rafts first wrinkle; then, as the confinement increases, the deformation localizes in a unique fold. This characteristic buckling pattern is usually associated with floating elastic sheets, and as a result, particle laden interfaces are often modeled as such. Here, we push this analogy to its limits by comparing quantitative measurements of the raft morphology to a theoretical continuous elastic model of the interface. We show that, although powerful to describe the wrinkle wavelength, the wrinkle-to-fold transition, and the fold shape, this elastic description does not capture the finer details of the experiment. We describe an unpredicted secondary wavelength, a compression discrepancy with the model, and a hysteretic behavior during compression cycles, all of which are a signature of the intrinsic discrete and frictional nature of granular rafts. It suggests also that these composite materials exhibit both plastic transition and jamming dynamics.

Jetting and flooding of granular backfill materials : [summary].

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-01

Granular backfill materials on highway projects are often compacted by mechanical methods. : This requires the contractor to place backfill material into loose lifts of varying thickness : and use compaction equipment to reduce air voids and increase...

Uptake and degradation of natural surfactant by isolated rat granular pneumocytes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fisher, A.B.; Chander, A.; Reicherter, J.

1987-01-01

It has been previously shown that isolated granular pneumocytes internalize and degrade dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) in synthetic lipid vesicles and reutilize degradation products for phosphatidylcholine (PC) synthesis. In this study, the authors evaluated the uptake and degradation of radiolabeled natural surfactant (NS) isolated from lung lavage after perfusing isolated rat lungs with [ 3 H]choline. Uptake of NS by isolated granular pneumocytes was increased approximately fourfold compared with synthetic liposomes, suggesting that physical form or a component (e.g., a protein) of NS plays a role in phospholipid uptake by these cells. Uptake was significantly decreased by metabolic inhibitors, indicating an energy requirement for this process. After 2-h incubation, the pattern of radioactivity in cells compared with NS showed a significant decrease in PC and DSPC and increase in free choline, choline phosphate, and CDP-choline. This pattern of metabolism indicates degradation of PC and metabolic reutilization of products. These studies support the hypothesis that alveolar phospholipids are accumulated and reutilized by granular pneumocytes for surfactant synthesis

Arching Structures in Granular Sedimentary Deposits

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Kulaviak, Lukáš; Hladil, Jindřich; Růžička, Marek; Drahoš, Jiří; Saint-Lary, L.

2013-01-01

Roč. 246, SEP (2013), s. 269-277 ISSN 0032-5910 R&D Projects: GA ČR GA104/07/1110; GA AV ČR IAAX00130702; GA MŠk(CZ) LG11014 Institutional support: RVO:67985858 ; RVO:67985831 Keywords : wet granulars * deposit * arching structure Subject RIV: CI - Industrial Chemistry, Chemical Engineering; DB - Geology ; Mineralogy (GLU-S) Impact factor: 2.269, year: 2013

Three-tier multi-granularity switching system based on PCE

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yubao; Sun, Hao; Liu, Yanfei

2017-10-01

With the growing demand for business communications, electrical signal processing optical path switching can't meet the demand. The multi-granularity switch system that can improve node routing and switching capabilities came into being. In the traditional network, each node is responsible for calculating the path; synchronize the whole network state, which will increase the burden on the network, so the concept of path calculation element (PCE) is proposed. The PCE is responsible for routing and allocating resources in the network1. In the traditional band-switched optical network, the wavelength is used as the basic routing unit, resulting in relatively low wavelength utilization. Due to the limitation of wavelength continuity, the routing design of the band technology becomes complicated, which directly affects the utilization of the system. In this paper, optical code granularity is adopted. There is no continuity of the optical code, and the number of optical codes is more flexible than the wavelength. For the introduction of optical code switching, we propose a Code Group Routing Entity (CGRE) algorithm. In short, the combination of three-tier multi-granularity optical switching system and PCE can simplify the network structure, reduce the node load, and enhance the network scalability and survivability. Realize the intelligentization of optical network.

Resilient Modulus Characterization of Alaskan Granular Base Materials

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-01

Resilient modulus (MR) of base course material is an important material input for : pavement design. In Alaska, due to distinctiveness of local climate, material source, : fines content and groundwater level, resilient properties of D-1 granular base...

Non-spherical granular flows down inclined chutes