https://doi.org/10.1051/epjconf/201714003074
Granular flow down a flexible inclined plane
1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Mechanics and Applied Mathematics Group, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, UP 208016, India
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Mechanics and Applied Mathematics Group, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, UP 208016, India
* e-mail: prasads@iitk.ac.in
** e-mail: ishans@iitk.ac.in
*** e-mail: jayantks@iitk.ac.in
Published online: 30 June 2017
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.
© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences, 2017
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
