Open AccessThe critical phenomena of the dilute-to-dense transition in two-dimensional granular flow
Author(s) -
Jie Zhong,
Peng Zheng,
Wu Yao-Yu,
Quan Shi,
Kunquan Lu,
Meiying Hou
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
wuli xuebao
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 47
ISSN - 1000-3290
DOI - 10.7498/aps.55.6691
Subject(s) - flow (mathematics) , condensed matter physics , transition time , critical phenomena , physics , power law , criticality , granular material , materials science , thermodynamics , statistical physics , mechanics , phase transition , mathematics , statistics , quantum mechanics , computer science , artificial intelligence , nuclear physics
The criticality of the dilute-to-dense transition in an inclined two-dimensional(2D) granular channel flow is investigated. The waiting time t before the transition occurs and after the flow is initiated is recorded. It is found that the probability function C(t) for the flow remaining dilute at time t decays exponentially with a characteristic time α-1(d). The characteristic time is found to be fitted well by a power law a(dc-d)-γ, where dc is the critical opening size: as for d>dc, the transition will never happen. The existence of a critical opening size at the exit confirms that the dilute-to-dense transition in 2D granular flow is a critical transition.