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Jamming during the discharge of grains from a silo described as a percolating transition

Iker Zuriguel, Luis A. Pugnaloni, Angel Garcimartín, and Diego Maza
Phys. Rev. E 68, 030301(R) – Published 9 September 2003
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Abstract

We have looked into an experiment that has been termed the “canonical example” of jamming: granular material, clogging the outlet of a container as it is discharged by gravity. We present quantitative data of such an experiment. The experimental control parameter is the ratio between the radius of the orifice and the radius of the beads. As this parameter is increased, the jamming probability decreases. However, in the range of parameters explored, no evidence of criticality—in the sense of a jamming probability that becomes infinitely small for a finite radius—has been found. We draw instead a comparison with a simple model that captures the main features of the phenomenon, namely, percolation in one dimension. The model gives indeed a phase transition, albeit a special one.

  • Received 23 December 2002

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.68.030301

©2003 American Physical Society

Authors & Affiliations

Iker Zuriguel1, Luis A. Pugnaloni2, Angel Garcimartín1,*, and Diego Maza1

  • 1Departamento de Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Navarra, E-31080 Pamplona, Spain
  • 2Procter Department of Food Science, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, United Kingdom

  • *Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Email address: angel@fisica.unav.es

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Vol. 68, Iss. 3 — September 2003

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