Anomalous Transport in Conical Granular Piles

TL;DR

This study investigates how adding a second dimension affects avalanche behavior in granular piles, revealing a characteristic avalanche size and scale-invariant transport properties across a wide timescale.

Contribution

It demonstrates that the dynamics in 2+1 dimensions fundamentally differ from 1+1 dimensions, introducing a characteristic avalanche size and scale-invariant transport behavior.

Findings

Avalanche properties change with added dimension.

Transport times vary from seconds to over 100 hours.

Transport follows a power-law distribution.

Abstract

Experiments on 2+1-dimensional piles of elongated particles are performed. Comparison with previous experiments in 1+1 dimensions shows that the addition of one extra dimension to the dynamics changes completely the avalanche properties, appearing a characteristic avalanche size. Nevertheless, the time single grains need to cross the whole pile varies smoothly between several orders of magnitude, from a few seconds to more than 100 hours. This behavior is described by a power-law distribution, signaling the existence of scale invariance in the transport process.