Analysis of damping forces induced by stirring in granular materials

Abstract

In this paper, the damping force obtained by stirring the granular material was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. In a theoretical approach, the damping force was calculated using the discrete element method. It was found that an analytical solution is provided to estimate the relationship between the damping torque and the frequency of the blade. In an experimental approach, the effect of the vessel shape on the damping force was investigated. In this study, uniformly sized spherical particles were used as the granular materials. Some stepped parts were provided on the bottom of the vessel to increase the damping force. The effect of the stepped parts on the damping force was confirmed.