Research update: A new model accurately predicts three-dimensional sand flow
A typical storage silo can hold several thousand tons of corn, seed, sawdust and other granular material. These particles funnel down through a hopper, or chute, into freight cars, which haul the material away for processing. But it’s not uncommon for a chute to clog, and the only fix in many cases is for a worker to stand by the opening and break up the jam with a mallet. At other times, a worker may need to climb into the silo to loosen material from the walls — a dangerous task that can trigger a deadly avalanche. Such accidents might be prevented if silos were designed to accommodate granular flow. The problem is, it’s extremely difficult to predict how grains behave collectively: While kernels of corn are solid, they behave more like a liquid when flowing through a silo. Simulating the flow of grains in silos, and in other geometries,...