(270d) Experimental Investigation of Segregation in a Rotating Cylinder with Non-Spherical Particles

The effect of multiple parameters on mixing two unequal sized non-spherical particles is studied in a rotating cylinder. The result shows the shape of both coarse and fine particle influence mixing. Results are explained with the help of mono-dispersed random packing density and angularity of the particles.

For the coarse particles that are considered, decreasing trend of radial segregation index is as follows: sphere > oblate > prolate > elongated needle. This is strongly correlated to mono-disperse packing fraction for the coarser particles. Figure 1 shows comparison of segregation index for different coarse particle's shapes. For the fine particle, the trend follows sphere > prolate > cube which correlates to the angularity in fine particles.

The extent of segregation is also affected by the initial proportion of fines added to the system. Decreasing the concentration of fine in the initial fill system decreases the extent of segregation. Overall, the segregation in general can be reduced by using non-spherical particles.