Drag forces in granular materials
Pierre Rognon1, François Guillard1
1School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, 2006 NSW, Australia. pierre.rognon@sydney.edu.au.
Soft Matter
|September 4, 2025
Summary
Objects moving through granular materials face complex drag forces, influenced by speed and pressure. This review explores these forces, their scaling laws, and connections to non-Newtonian behavior.
Area of Science:
- Physics
- Materials Science
- Fluid Dynamics
Background:
- Granular materials exhibit unique behaviors distinct from simple fluids.
- Understanding forces on objects moving through these materials is crucial for various applications.
- Recent research has uncovered complex dependencies of drag force on object velocity and surrounding pressure.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the non-trivial properties of drag forces in granular materials.
- To introduce associated scaling laws and their physical origins.
- To compare granular drag with that in Newtonian fluids and other soft matter.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of experimental and theoretical studies on granular drag.
- Analysis of scaling laws governing drag force dependencies.
- Comparative study with drag phenomena in different material types.
Main Results:
- Drag force in granular media shows complex dependencies on velocity and pressure.
- Specific scaling laws characterize these interactions.
- Non-Newtonian behavior of granular matter significantly influences drag.
Conclusions:
- Drag in granular materials is fundamentally different from Newtonian fluids.
- The study provides insights into the physics of force transmission in dense particle systems.
- Further research can leverage these findings for material design and process optimization.
More Related Videos
11:51Visually Based Characterization of the Incipient Particle Motion in Regular Substrates: From Laminar to Turbulent Conditions
Published on: February 22, 2018
8.8K
11:03An Analog Macroscopic Technique for Studying Molecular Hydrodynamic Processes in Dense Gases and Liquids
Published on: December 4, 2017
8.6K
Related Concept Videos
01:24Newton's Law of Gravitational Attraction
684
Sir Isaac Newton established the universality of the law of gravitational attraction based on empirical evidence and inductive reasoning. He published his work in Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica ("the Principia") on July 5, 1687.
Newton's law of gravitational attraction is a fundamental law of physics that governs the attraction between objects. It states that the magnitude of the gravitational force between any two objects is proportional to their masses and inversely...
Newton's law of gravitational attraction is a fundamental law of physics that governs the attraction between objects. It states that the magnitude of the gravitational force between any two objects is proportional to their masses and inversely...
684
01:18Drag Force and Terminal Speed
2.5K
An interesting force in everyday life is the force of drag on an object when it is moving in a fluid. Like friction, the drag force always opposes the motion of an object. Unlike simple friction, the drag force is proportional to some function of the velocity of the object in that fluid. This functionality is complicated and depends upon the shape of the object, its size, its velocity, and the fluid it is in. For most large objects, such as cyclists, cars, and baseballs, that are not moving too...
2.5K
01:22Force Classification
1.6K
Forces play a crucial role in the study of physics and engineering. They are essential in describing the motion, behavior, and equilibrium of objects in the physical world. Forces can be classified based on their origin, type, and direction of action.
Contact and non-contact forces are two of the most widely used categories of forces. As the name suggests, contact forces require physical contact between two objects to act upon each other. Examples of contact forces include frictional,...
Contact and non-contact forces are two of the most widely used categories of forces. As the name suggests, contact forces require physical contact between two objects to act upon each other. Examples of contact forces include frictional,...
1.6K
01:30Dry Friction
462
Dry friction occurs between two solid surfaces in contact as they attempt to move relative to one another. In daily life, dry friction is encountered in various forms, such as when walking on the ground, sliding an object across a table, or rubbing hands together. Despite its ubiquity, the underlying mechanisms behind dry friction are not readily visible.
To illustrate this concept, imagine a wooden crate resting on a rough, non-uniform horizontal surface. When an external force is applied to...
To illustrate this concept, imagine a wooden crate resting on a rough, non-uniform horizontal surface. When an external force is applied to...
462
01:21Characteristics of Dry Friction
676
Dry friction occurs when two solid surfaces slide against each other without any lubrication or fluid present. It causes resistance when pushing objects along a surface, like a gardener pushing a wheelbarrow. The force applied to move the cart causes dry friction between the wheel and the ground.
Before the wheelbarrow starts moving, the static frictional force acts tangentially to the contact surface, opposing the force that is about to induce the motion. This frictional force prevents the...
Before the wheelbarrow starts moving, the static frictional force acts tangentially to the contact surface, opposing the force that is about to induce the motion. This frictional force prevents the...
676
01:28Frictional Forces on Flat Belts
1.0K
Flat belts are commonly used in various industrial applications for transmitting power from one pulley to another. When a flat belt is wrapped around a set of pulleys, it experiences different tensions at the driving pulley ends due to the friction between the belt and pulley surface. When the pulley moves in a counterclockwise direction, the tension T2 on the opposite side of the pulley where the belt is moving away from is higher than the tension T1 on the side where the belt is moving...
1.0K