Numerical study of size-driven segregation of binary particles in a rotary drum with lower filling level

How particle shape affects granular segregation in industrial and geophysical flows

“…Grain shape has been shown to alter mobility in a variety of flow regimes, with sharp edges of cubes dissipating energy faster than spheres and decreasing mobility ( 30 – 32 ). However, findings from these studies are often seemingly conflicting and have been difficult to synthesize because it is nontrivial to disentangle the role of shape and size, and different filling levels and rotational speeds used in different studies can result in complex, unpredictable radial segregation patterns that are challenging to compare ( 4 , 31 – 36 ). Only recently has a universal framework been proposed for segregation levels with different shapes; Jones et al ( 5 , 28 ) found that segregation levels for bidisperse grains (disks, rods, spheres) in a numerical model depends largely on the single-grain volume ratio between the two species rather than diameter ratio, which can be challenging to define for different shapes.…”