MEAM Seminar: “Sticky Situations: Cohesion in Granular Flows”
April 1, 2025 at 10:15 AM - 11:15 AM
Organizer
Venue
From silo discharge and granular avalanches to the erosion of granular beds, granular materials play a central role in many industrial and environmental processes. While significant advances have been made in understanding the statics and dynamics of cohesionless grains, the role of interparticle adhesion, which fundamentally alters bulk rheology and transport mechanisms, remains elusive. In this talk, we will discuss recent experimental efforts to systematically control and characterize model cohesive granular materials, allowing us to quantify the impact of cohesion in various configurations. By using model adhesive grains, we probe the role of interparticle adhesion in several canonical flow scenarios: granular discharge from a silo, where cohesion governs clogging onset and flow rate reduction; erosion of a granular bed by an impinging turbulent jet, where cohesive forces delay particle entrainment; and the collapse of a cohesive granular column, where cohesion enhances stability. These experiments provide a framework to rationalize the dynamics of cohesive granular materials, bridging the gap between idealized numerical models and real-world applications. The study of cohesive granular materials offers predictive frameworks for controlling granular materials in engineering applications, with implications ranging from powder handling in industrial processes to geophysical flows.

