The energy flux into a fluidized granular medium at a vibrating wall

TL;DR

This paper investigates how energy is transferred from a vibrating wall into a fluidized granular medium using simulations, revealing two key scaling relations and conditions for their transition.

Contribution

It introduces two scaling relations for power input in a vibrated granular system and identifies the transition based on wave propagation, simplifying the understanding of energy transfer.

Findings

Two scaling relations involving pressure were identified.

A transition occurs when waves propagate across the system.

Choosing specific waveforms simplifies the energy transfer model.

Abstract

We study the power input of a vibrating wall into a fluidized granular medium, using event driven simulations of a model granular system. The system consists of inelastic hard disks contained between a stationary and a vibrating elastic wall, in the absence of gravity. Two scaling relations for the power input are found, both involving the pressure. The transition between the two occurs when waves generated at the moving wall can propagate across the system. Choosing an appropriate waveform for the vibrating wall removes one of these scalings and renders the second very simple.