Forced silo discharge: Simulation and theory

Abstract

We study, through discrete element simulations, the discharge of granular materials through a circular orifice on the base of a cylindrical silo forced by a surcharge. At the beginning of the discharge, for a high granular column, the flow rate $Q_{\rm ini}$ scales as in the Beverloo equation for free discharge. However, we find that the flow rate $Q_{\rm end}$ attained at the end of the forced discharge scales as $\sqrt{\rho_b P}D_o^3/D_s$, with $\rho_b$ the bulk density, $P$ the pressure applied by the overweight, $D_o$ the orifice diameter and $D_s$ the silo diameter. We use the work$-$energy theorem to formulate an equation for the flow rate $Q_{\rm end}$ that predicts the scalings only in part. We discuss the new challenges offered by the phenomenology of strongly forced granular flows.