Anisotropic dynamics in a shaken granular dimer gas experiment

TL;DR

This study experimentally investigates the complex, anisotropic behavior of a 2D shaken granular gas composed of non-spherical dimers, revealing how particle shape and shaking parameters influence dynamics and energy transfer.

Contribution

It introduces an experimental setup to analyze how non-spherical particles in a granular gas exhibit anisotropic dynamics due to complex particle-plate interactions.

Findings

Anisotropic behavior depends on shaking parameters.

Multiple energy-momentum transfers occur per cycle.

Particle shape influences velocity fluctuations.

Abstract

The dynamics, velocity fluctuations, and particle-plate interactions for a 2D granular gas of shaken, non-spherical particles are studied experimentally. The experiment consists of a horizontal plate that is vertically oscillated to drive the dynamics of macroscopic dimers, spherical pairs that are loosely connected by a rod that couple the interaction each of the spheres has with the shaking plate. The extended nature of the particles results in more than one energy-momentum transfer between the plate and each dimer per shaking cycle. This complex interaction results in anisotropic behavior for the dimer that is a function of the shaking parameters.