Segregation effects in rectangular piles built up by a moving injection device

Abstract

An experimental study of granular segregation is reported on rectangular grain piles built by dropping simultaneously grains of two different species from a funnel moving back and forth sinusoidally parallel to the length of the pile. Our experimental set-up allows us to control the following variables during the build-up of the pile: height of the injection point above the top, amplitude and velocity of its displacement and injection flow rate for each kind of grains. Glass beads of different diameters are used in the experiment. Preliminary experimental results demonstrate that the distance of the injection point from the top of the pile and the amplitude of the motion have the largest influence on the segregation.