Abstract
We consider a granular gas under the action of gravity, fluidized by a vibrating base. We show that a horizontal temperature gradient, here induced by limiting dissipative lateral walls (DLW), leads always to a granular thermal convection (DLW TC) that is essentially different from ordinary bulk-buoyancy-driven convection (BBD TC). In an experiment where BBD TC is inhibited, by reducing gravity with an inclined plane, we always observe a DLW TC cell next to each lateral wall. Such a cell squeezes towards the nearest wall as the gravity and/or the number of grains increase. Molecular dynamics simulations reproduce the experimental results and indicate that at large gravity or number of grains the DLW TC is barely detectable.
- Received 21 December 2015
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.098006
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