Flow and pattern formation in a binary mixture of rotating granular materials

In a horizontally rotating cylinder, size segregation, pattern formation, and its time development are studied for a binary mixture of rodlike and disklike materials at various rotational frequencies. The rodlike particles formed a network that influenced their mobility and the shape of the avalanching surface. Windows installed on the cylinder enabled us to examine and control the distribution of the components of the mixture throughout the bulk. This has allowed us to study the evolution of naturally occurring and artificially created patterns. All observed patterns had a degree of asymmetry and were unstable. The stability of a band pattern is shown to depend on its symmetry. Qualitatively, the time for the transition from one set of bands to another was inversely related to the degree of asymmetry of the pattern. In addition, we propose that the parameter D/d (diameter of the cylinder over the diameter of the grains) plays a significant role in the functional dependence of the avalanching surface current on the dynamical angle of repose, and in the segregation process itself.