Patchy Wet Granular Matter

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Kai Huang
• Subject Area: Statistical Physics, Nonlinear Dynamics, Complex Systems, Soft and Fluid Matter, Biological Physics
• Term: from 2015 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 290337193

The collective behavior of agitated granular particles bound by liquid bridges shall be investigated experimentally. The shape of the particles is designed to tune the maximum coordination number, reminiscent of thermally driven patchy colloids, at a macroscopic scale where thermal energy does not play a crucial role. The focus is on the transitions between solidlike, liquidlike and gaslike states in a quasi-two-dimensional system. The goal is to identify the general role of particle shape in determining the collective behavior of patchy granulates. The motivation arises from the ubiquity of wet granular matter in nature (wet sand) and engineering (multiphase flow). In those situations, the geometry of the particles with its corresponding coordination number from the building of liquid bridges plays an important role. The practical advantage to focus on such a model system is: The dynamical behavior is directly accessible by means of imaging processing techniques both on the scale of individual particles as well as on the scale relevant to the collective behavior.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: United Kingdom
• Cooperation Partners: Privatdozent Dr. Andrea Fortini; Professor Dr. Daniel de las Heras