Measurements of grain motion in a dense, three-dimensional granular fluid.
We have used an NMR technique to measure the short-time, three-dimensional displacement of grains in a system of mustard seeds vibrated vertically at 15 g. The technique averages over a time interval in which the grains move ballistically, giving a direct measurement of the granular temperature profile. The dense, lower portion of the sample is well described by a recent hydrodynamic theory for inelastic hard spheres. Near the free upper surface the mean free path is longer than the particle diameter and the hydrodynamic description fails.
Yang
Xiaoyu
X
Physics Department, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Massachusetts 01003, USA.
Huan
Chao
C
Candela
D
D
Mair
R W
RW
Walsworth
R L
RL