Granular flows and silos

This research line studies the mechanism that controls the passing regime of a group of grains through a bottleneck.  Just gravity filed or a conveyor belt can cause particle displacement. Despite the ubiquity of this situation in any factory or industrial process, we still lack a general expression that links particle material properties with the mass flow rate. Our group is pioneering in the developed of an expression that connects kinetic properties of the material contained in a silo with the mass flow rate and the orifice size. 

More information in

• Jamming during the discharge of granular matter from a silo (.pdf)

• Jamming and critical outlet size in the discharge of a two-dimensional silo (.pdf)

• The flow rate of granular materials through an orifice (.pdf)

• Flow-rate fluctuations in the outpouring of grains from a two-dimensional silo (.pdf)

• Silo Clogging Reduction by the Presence of an Obstacle (.pdf)

• Flow and clogging in a silo with an obstacle above the orifice (.pdf)