Dynamics of spherical particles on a surface: About collision induced sliding and other effects

TL;DR

This paper models the motion of spherical particles on a surface, emphasizing collision-induced sliding and substrate interactions, revealing significant energy loss and effects on clustering and structure formation.

Contribution

Introduces a detailed model accounting for sliding and rolling friction, highlighting their impact on particle dynamics and energy dissipation.

Findings

Sliding causes significant energy loss after collisions.

Substrate interactions strongly influence particle behavior.

Model provides insights into clustering and inelastic collapse phenomena.

Abstract

We present a model for the motion of hard spherical particles on a two dimensional surface. The model includes both the interaction between the particles via collisions, as well as the interaction of the particles with the substrate. We analyze in details the effects of sliding and rolling friction, that are usually overlooked. It is found that the properties of this particulate system are influenced significantly by the substrate-particle interactions. In particular, sliding of the particles relative to the substrate after a collision leads to considerable energy loss for common experimental conditions. The presented results provide a basis, that can be used to realistically model the dynamical properties of the system, and provide further insight into density fluctuations and related phenomena of clustering, structure formations, and inelastic collapse.