Experimental Investigation and Validation of Mixing and Segregation Behavior of Granular Flow in a Sectorial Container

Abstract

Mixing and segregation behavior of granular flow was investigated inside a sectorial shaped container, subjected to sinusoidal oscillations. A sectorial container containing particles was oscillated in the range of 1 to 4 Hz. The effects of different operating parameters such as frequency of oscillations, amplitude of oscillations, volume fraction, and the size ratio of particles were studied. Numerical simulations performed earlier were validated by experiments which indicated that the mixing and segregation of particles takes place in a particular range of frequency zone. A range of frequency has been identified for active and stagnant heaping of particulates. Good mixing was observed above and below a certain frequency range. Critical frequency region was also identified where the particulate matter was nearly symmetrical to the shape of the container and asymmetrical heaping was observed above and below this critical frequency range. The effect of initial arrangement of layers of different particulates was also investigated. Snapshots of experimental observations were compared and validated with the numerically simulated characteristics.