Effects of external factors on segregation of a granular chute flow*

Granular mixtures can be seen in various industries like food processing, pharmaceuticals, paints, chemicals, cosmetics, etc. During different handling procedures, the end products in these industries may vary due to the non-uniformity, i.e., segregation occurs, which is sometimes a problem as it affects the product quality. Many researchers have investigated the differences in particles size, density, and shape that leads to segregation. But, it is always not possible to change the internal factors. Here in this paper, we have presented the results by studying a dry granular chute flow. We investigated on the effect of the external factors like chute inclination, fill volume and wall roughness which can minimize the segregation. We carried out small experiments for an understanding of the flow of two-sized particle mixture. Then we conducted the numerical simulation using discrete element method by an open source code – LIGGGHTS to study the velocity and volume fraction of the species.