Mixing soft and rigid particles in a hopper: soft particles induce flow intermittency and avalanches

Abstract: Instabilities and avalanches in granular flows represent hallmarks of failure: they can both disrupt industrial process flows and signal dangerous conditions, like those in grain silos and snowy mountaintops. We investigate intermittency and avalanches in the gravity-driven flow of granular materials through a quasi-2D hopper. Mixtures of rigid polypropylene and soft polyacrylamide particles flow through a hopper constriction. A combination of high-speed imaging, particle identification and tracking analyses enable us to measure quantities including particle velocities, outflow rates, the time intervals between consecutive particle exits, and the geometric properties of any temporary arches that form during a flow test. As the fraction of rigid particles increases in the mixture, the velocity of exiting particles increases. So too, however, does the probability of complete clogging. While soft particles exhibit slower velocities at the hopper exit, they also facilitate greater overall discharge rates. Simultaneously, the presence of soft particles induces both intermittency and avalanches in the flow. In this case, arches that could permanently block the flow are more likely to be temporary in nature. Interestingly, the identity of the particle that falls first from a temporary arch correlates linearly with the mixing fraction in the overall sample. That is, soft particles, despite their correlation with flow instabilities, are not significantly more likely to fall first from a temporary arch. Investigating the arch geometries suggests that the particle forming the largest bond angle with its neighbors is the one that causes an arch to fail, regardless of being soft or rigid.