1. Capillary clusters in Granular Fluid Systems
Arshad Kudrolli, Department of Physics, Clark University, Worcester, MA 01610
Aggregation experiments: We design and perform a novel experiment in which image granular clusters formed by capillary attraction force are studied as a function of volume fraction. Using these images, particle positions are obtained, and the connectivity network is obtained to determine its rigidity.
Example of image of granular clusters observed when grown by uniform compression. Short range attraction which is of order of particle size causes qualitative differences in observed aggregates.
Example of a capillarity induced aggregate observed in the experiment at a volume fraction of 0.44 (left). At comparable volume fractions, non-cohesive particles of the same size grown randomly show qualitative different structure (right).
Prepared with Dr. M. Berhanu