TY - JOUR AU - Murray, Alan AU - Alonso-Marroquin, Fernando PY - 2016/03/28 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - Increasing granular flow rate with obstructions JF - Papers in Physics JA - Pap. Phys. VL - 8 IS - 0 SE - Articles DO - 10.4279/pip.080003 UR - https://www.papersinphysics.org/papersinphysics/article/view/289 SP - 080003 AB - <p>We describe a simple experiment involving spheres rolling down an inclined plane towards a bottleneck and through a gap. Results of the experiment indicate that flow rate can be increased by placing an obstruction at optimal positions near the bottleneck. We use the experiment to develop a computer simulation using the PhysX physics engine. Simulations confirm the experimental results and we state several considerations necessary to obtain a model that agrees well with experiment. We demonstrate that the model exhibits clogging, intermittent and continuous flow, and that it can be used as a tool for further investigations in granular flow.</p><div><p><strong>Received:</strong> 22 November 2015, <strong> </strong><strong>Accepted:</strong> 19 February  2016; <strong>Edited by:</strong> L. A. Pugnaloni; <strong>Reviewed by:</strong> C. M. Carlevaro, Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológicos, La Plata, Argentina; <strong>DOI:</strong> http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.080003</p><p><strong>Cite as:</strong> A Murray, F Alonso-Marroquin, Papers in Physics 8, 080003 (2016)</p>This paper, by <a rel="cc:attributionURL" href="http://dx.doi.org/10.4279/PIP.080003">A Murray, F Alonso-Marroquin</a>, is licensed under the <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Creative Commons Attribution License 3.0</a>.</div><p> </p> ER -