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Humidity-Induced Cohesion Effects in Granular Media

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Nathalie Fraysse  and
Luc Petit
Nathalie Fraysse
Affiliation:
[email protected]
Luc Petit
Affiliation:
Laboratoire de Physique de la Matière Condensée, UMR 6622 CNRS - Université de Nice, Parc Valrose, 06 108 Nice cedex 2, France.
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Abstract

Experiments were performed under accurately-controlled humidity conditions in order to quantify effects induced by humidity on granular materials. Measurements of the maximal stability angle of a pile made of small glass beads are reported as a function of the relative vapor pressure in the cell, up to close to saturation. The comparison of the results obtained with fluids differing in their molecular interactions with glass, namely water and heptane, shows that the wetting properties of the interstitial liquid on the grains have a strong influence on the cohesion of the non-saturated granular medium. This suggests that gravimetric experiments which could indirectly give information on the size of the capillary bridges that form between grains should be useful to understand the close connection that exists, through interparticle forces, between microscopic properties such as wetting properties and surface roughness of the grains, and global-scale properties of the pile, as its stability and flowability.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 627: Symposium BB – The Granular State , 2000 , BB7.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2000

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References

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