Stochastic dynamics of granular hopper flows: a configurational mode controls the stability of clogs

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Main Authors: Hathcock, David, Dillavou, Sam, Hanlan, Jesse M., Durian, Douglas J., Tu, Yuhai
Format: Preprint
Published: 2023
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_version_ 1866915116569591808
author Hathcock, David
Dillavou, Sam
Hanlan, Jesse M.
Durian, Douglas J.
Tu, Yuhai
author_facet Hathcock, David
Dillavou, Sam
Hanlan, Jesse M.
Durian, Douglas J.
Tu, Yuhai
contents Granular flows in small-outlet hoppers exhibit several characteristic but poorly understood behaviors: temporary clogs (pauses) where flow stops before later spontaneously restarting, permanent clogs that last indefinitely, and non-Gaussian, non-monotonic flow-rate statistics. These aspects have been studied independently, but a model of hopper flow that includes all three has not been formulated. Here, we introduce a phenomenological model that provides a unifying dynamical explanation of all three behaviors: coupling between the flow rate and a hidden mode that controls the stability of clogs. In the theory, flow rate evolves according to Langevin dynamics with multiplicative noise and an absorbing state at zero flow, conditional on the hidden mode. The model fully reproduces the statistics of pause and clog events of a large ($>40,000$ flows) experimental dataset, including non-exponentially distributed clogging times and non-Gaussian flow rate distribution, and explains the stretched-exponential growth of the average clogging time with outlet size. Further, we identify the physical nature of the hidden mode in microscopic configurational features, including size and smoothness of the static arch structure formed during pauses and clogs. Our work provides a unifying framework for several poorly understood clogging phenomena, and suggests numerous new paths toward further understanding of this complex system.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2312_01194
institution arXiv
publishDate 2023
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Stochastic dynamics of granular hopper flows: a configurational mode controls the stability of clogs
Hathcock, David
Dillavou, Sam
Hanlan, Jesse M.
Durian, Douglas J.
Tu, Yuhai
Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
Granular flows in small-outlet hoppers exhibit several characteristic but poorly understood behaviors: temporary clogs (pauses) where flow stops before later spontaneously restarting, permanent clogs that last indefinitely, and non-Gaussian, non-monotonic flow-rate statistics. These aspects have been studied independently, but a model of hopper flow that includes all three has not been formulated. Here, we introduce a phenomenological model that provides a unifying dynamical explanation of all three behaviors: coupling between the flow rate and a hidden mode that controls the stability of clogs. In the theory, flow rate evolves according to Langevin dynamics with multiplicative noise and an absorbing state at zero flow, conditional on the hidden mode. The model fully reproduces the statistics of pause and clog events of a large ($>40,000$ flows) experimental dataset, including non-exponentially distributed clogging times and non-Gaussian flow rate distribution, and explains the stretched-exponential growth of the average clogging time with outlet size. Further, we identify the physical nature of the hidden mode in microscopic configurational features, including size and smoothness of the static arch structure formed during pauses and clogs. Our work provides a unifying framework for several poorly understood clogging phenomena, and suggests numerous new paths toward further understanding of this complex system.
title Stochastic dynamics of granular hopper flows: a configurational mode controls the stability of clogs
topic Soft Condensed Matter
Statistical Mechanics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.01194