Geometric aspects of particle segregation

Size segregation is a natural occurrence both in everyday life and in industrial processes. Understanding and research of the phenomenon has overwhelmingly been from a mechanistic point of view. This paper demonstrates through simulations that segregation can also be explained and trends predicted geometrically. The algorithm used in this study contains three simple elements: random walks combined with a rebounding probability to encourage particles to settle, plus the non-overlap constraint. It is implemented digitally in a regular lattice grid, to make it easy to deal with arbitrary shapes. It does not explicitly consider any particle interaction forces, and it does not include any rules specifically designed to promote or suppress segregation. Yet particle movement, which occurs within a digitized cubic grid, leads to shaking-induced segregation comparable to that observed in physical tests. The paper details the comparison of shaking-induced particle segregation between a series of computer based simulations and those of physical experiments undertaken in the laboratory. A range of mixtures, comprising nonspherical, arbitrary shaped/sized particles are investigated, having been packed into pseudo-two-dimensional containers. The simulation results suggest that segregation can be adequately explained, from a geometrical point of view, as a result of the relative motion between particles of different sizes and shapes. The geometrical algorithm thus provides a fast and qualitative prediction as to how likely segregation is to occur for any given mixture of arbitrary shapes.