Silo discharge of mixtures of soft and rigid grains

Abstract

We study the outflow dynamics and clogging phenomena of mixtures of soft, elastic low-friction spherical grains and hard frictional spheres of similar size in a quasi-two-dimensional (2D) silo with narrow orifice at the bottom. Previous work has demonstrated the crucial influence of elasticity and friction on silo discharge. We show that the addition of small amounts, even as low as 5%, of hard grains to an ensemble of soft, low-friction grains already has significant consequences. The mixtures allow a direct comparison of the probabilities of the different types of particles to clog the orifice. We analyze these probabilities for the hard, frictional and the soft, slippery grains on the basis of their participation in the blocking arches, and compare outflow velocities and durations of non-permanent clogs for different compositions of the mixtures. Experimental results are compared with numerical simulations. The latter strongly suggest a significant influence of the inter-species particle friction.