Abstract
Granular material is vertically vibrated in a 2D container: above a critical shaking strength, and for a sufficient number of beads, a crystalline cluster is elevated and supported by a dilute gaseous layer of fast beads underneath. We call this phenomenon the granular Leidenfrost effect. The experimental observations are explained by a hydrodynamic model featuring three dimensionless control parameters: the energy input , the number of particle layers , and the inelasticity of the particle collisions . The phase diagram, in which the Leidenfrost state lies between the purely solid and gas phases, shows accurate agreement between experiment and theory.
- Received 17 June 2005
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.95.258001
©2005 American Physical Society