Particle kinematics in a dilute, 3-dimensional, vibration-fluidized granular medium

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates particle motion in a vibrated granular medium, revealing non-Gaussian velocity distributions and increasing velocity correlations with higher particle density.

Contribution

It provides new insights into particle kinematics in a 3D vibrated granular system, highlighting differences from homogeneously driven models.

Findings

Velocity distribution broader than Gaussian

Distribution widens with volume fraction

Velocity component correlations increase with density

Abstract

We report an experimental study of particle kinematics in a 3-dimensional system of inelastic spheres fluidized by intense vibration. The motion of particles in the interior of the medium is tracked by high speed video imaging, yielding a spatially-resolved measurement of the velocity distribution. The distribution is wider than a Gaussian and broadens continuously with increasing volume fraction. The deviations from a Gaussian distribution for this boundary-driven system are different in sign and larger in magnitude than predictions for homogeneously driven systems. We also find correlations between velocity components which grow with increasing volume fraction.