Eur. Phys. J. B 25, 217-222 (2002)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e20020024

Modeling and simulations of the behavior of glass particles in a rotating drum in heptane and water vapor atmospheres

¹ INLN, UMR 6618, Université de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, 1361 route des lucioles, 06560 Valbonne, France
² LPMC, UMR 6622, Université de Nice-Sophia-Antipolis, Parc Valrose, 06108 Nice Cedex 2, France
³ LAIN, UMR 5011, Université Montpellier II, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France
⁴ LMCP, Université Montpellier II, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier Cedex, France
⁵ CRMC2-CNRS (Laboratoire propre du CNRS, associé aux Universités d'Aix-Marseille 2 et 3) , campus de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex, France

Corresponding author: ^a olivi@inln.cnrs.fr

Received: 25 May 2001
Revised: 31 October 2001
Published online: 15 January 2002

Abstract

This paper presents a molecular dynamics simulation of an experiment on the stability of a pile of glass beads in a rotating drum filled with a “humid” atmosphere. The experimental avalanche angles were found to be different whether the humidity came from water or heptane. These experimental results allow us to set the basic hypothesis of the modeling: in the heptane atmosphere the glass beads are connected by deformable liquid bridges, whereas in the case of a water atmosphere solid bridges form between the beads. The numerical calculations of the avalanche angle as a function of the undersaturated pressure of heptane or water are in good agreement with the experimental results.