title: Chaos on the conveyor belt.
abstract: The dynamics of a spring-block train placed on a moving conveyor belt is investigated both by simple experiments and computer simulations. The first block is connected by a spring to an external static point and, due to the dragging effect of the belt, the blocks undergo complex stick-slip dynamics. A qualitative agreement with the experimental results can be achieved only by taking into account the spatial inhomogeneity of the friction force on the belt's surface, modeled as noise. As a function of the velocity of the conveyor belt and the noise strength, the system exhibits complex, self-organized critical, sometimes chaotic, dynamics and phase transition-like behavior. Noise-induced chaos and intermittency is also observed. Simulations suggest that the maximum complexity of the dynamical states is achieved for a relatively small number of blocks (around five).
authors.affiliation: Babeş-Bolyai University, Department of Physics, RO-400084 Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
authors.forename: Bulcsú
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sándor
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Járai-Szabó
authors.forename: Tamás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tél
authors.forename: Zoltán
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Néda