Abstract
THE production of many goods, ranging from pharmaceuticals and foods to polymers and semiconductors, depends on reliable, uniform mixing of solids. Although there have been several notable recent advances1–6, solid mixing processes are still poorly understood. We can neither qualitatively nor quantitively determine the effectiveness of any given mixing process in advance. In contrast to the case of liquid mixing7, we do not have a widely accepted theoretical basis that describes the mixing of solids. Moreover, we cannot determine whether a given set of solids will mix or separate during a specified stirring process8–23. As a step towards uncovering the basic physical principles, it is helpful to analyse systems that are both experimentally and theoretically tractable. Here we describe a geometric technique for the analysis of slow granular mixing processes, as are commonly encountered in industry. By comparing our calculations with experiments on thin rotating containers partially filled with coloured particles, we demonstrate that the mixing behaviour of powders in slow flows can be divided into geometric and dynamic parts. For monodisperse, weakly cohesive particles, geometric aspects dominate.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
1. Baxter, G. W. & Behringer, R. Physica D51, 465-471 (1991). 2. Behringer, R. P. Nonlin. Sci. Today 3, 1-15 (1993). 3. Fan, L T., Chen, Y. & Lai, F. S. Powder Technol. 61, 255-287 (1990). 4. Jaeger, H. M. & Nagel, S. R. Science 255,1523-1530 (1992). 5. Mehta, A. (ed.) Granular Matter, an Interdisciplinary Approach (Springer, New York, 1994). 6. Thomson, A. & Crest, G. S. Phys. Rev. Lett,. 67,1751-1754 (1991). 7. Ottino, J. M. Trie Kinematics of Mixing: Stretching, Chaos, and Transport (Cambridge Univ. Press, 1990). 8. Bridgwater, J., Sharpe, N. W. & Stocker, D. C. Trans. Instn. chem. Engrs 47, T114-T119 (1969). 9. Campbell, H. & Bauer, W. C. Chem. Engng (19), 179-185 (1966). 10. Cooke, M. H. & Bridgwater, J. Ind. Engng Chem. Fund. 18, 25-27 (1979). 11. Das Gupta, S., Khakhar, D. V. & Bhatia, S. K. Chem. Engng Sci. 46, 1513-1517 (1991). 12. Donald, M. B. & Roseman, B. Brit. chem. Engng 7, 749-753 (1962). 13. Henein, H., Brimacombe, J. K. & Watkinson, A., Metall. Trans. B16, 763-774 (1985). 14. Hogg, R. & Fuerstenau, D. W. Powder Technol. 6,139-148 (1972). 15. Knight, J. B., Jaeger, H. M. & Nagel, S. R. Phys. Rev. Lett. 70, 3728-3731 (1993). 16. Mehta, A. & Barker, G. C. Nature 364, 486-487 (1993). 17. Rogers, A. R. & Clements, J. A. Powder Technol. 5, 167-178 (1971). 18. Scott, A. M. & Bridgwater, J. Powder Technol. 14, 177-183 (1976). 19. Zik, 0., Levine, D., Lipson, S. G., Shrikman, S. & Stavans, J. Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 644-647 (1994). 20. Hill, K. M. & Kakalios, J. Phys. Rev. E49, R3610-R3613 (1994). 21. Rosato, A., Strandburg, K. J., Prinz, F. & Swendsen, R. H. Phys. Rev. Lett. 58,1038-1040 (1987). 22. Baumann, G., Janosi, I. M. & Wolf, D. E. Europhys. Lett. 27, 203-208 (1994). 23. Nakagawa, M., Altobelli, S. A., Caprihan, A., Fukushima, E. & Jeong, E.-K. Exp. Fluids 16, 54-60 (1993). 24. Jaeger, H. M., Liu, C. & Nagel, S. R. Phys. Rev. Lett. 62, 40-43 (1988). 25. Rajchenbach, J. Phys. Rev. Lett. 65, 2221-2214 (1990). 26. Herrmann, H. J. Physica A191, 263-276 (1992). 27. Campbell, C. S. Rev. Fluid Mech. 22, 57-92 (1990).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Metcalfe, G., Shinbrot, T., McCarthy, J. et al. Avalanche mixing of granular solids. Nature 374, 39–41 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1038/374039a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/374039a0
This article is cited by
-
The unique dynamics of a bed of dry granular material in a vertical cylinder rotating at a constant speed
Granular Matter (2023)
-
Scale-up study of high-shear fluid-particle mixing based on coupled SPH/DEM simulation
Granular Matter (2018)
-
The effect of particle shape on mixing in a high shear mixer
Computational Particle Mechanics (2016)
-
Numerical modelling of granular flows: a reality check
Computational Particle Mechanics (2016)
-
Spatiotemporal chaotic unjamming and jamming in granular avalanches
Scientific Reports (2015)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.